DON'T KILL IT (Mike Mendez, 2016)

[Jox]

Review
http://dailygrindhouse.com/thewire/fant ... dont-kill/

Fantastic Fest pics

[Jox]

More (very positive) reviews:
http://cinapse.co/2016/09/25/75540/
http://modernhorrors.com/dont-kill-ff-review/

[Jox]

And another good review
https://www.dreadcentral.com/reviews/19 ... kill-2016/

This sums it up pretty well all the previous reviews:

In any case, Don’t Kill It is far more fun and self-aware than many might expect it to be–especially given its current direct-to-video-action-flick promotional art. I actually wouldn’t mind seeing this serve as the beginning of a Jebediah Woodley franchise, and I can imagine that the action star feels the same after seeing the enthusiastic audience response to the on-screen appearance of his name alone. Lundgren has always shined in such quirky, yet commanding genre roles, and given that he seems to be truly having a blast here, I say bring on more demon-killing mayhem for him.

Fantastic Fest special report: Delights, debates, and Dolph Lundgren
http://www.ew.com/article/2016/09/25/fa ... h-lundgren

[Jox]

DON’T KILL IT
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

When Dolph Lundgren introduced director Mike Mendez’s latest, he prefaced it with an explanation about how he “had more dialogue in the first scene here than I’ve had in the past five years.” While none of us had any reason to not believe him, it seemed odd to remark about the dialogue of a film helmed by the guy who brought Big Ass Spider! to the big screen.

While Don’t Kill It does deliver a heaping helping of gore, splatter, and raw, kinetic violence, Mendez never hesitates to amp up the pure, unapologetic camp. Lundgren in particular seems to be having a great time playing the vaping, booze-swilling demon hunter Jedediah Woodley, who’s hot on the trail of the demon that’s determined to turn a small Mississippi town into a hell on Earth. It’s movies like this that make you mourn for the lack of drive-in theaters left in the world today.

http://www.glidemagazine.com/171679/fan ... p-day-3-4/

[Jox]

Another good review
http://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/sc ... t-kill-it/

[Jox]

And yet another festival selection !

Screening at the IFI Horrorthon in Ireland on October 29th
http://www.ifi.ie/horrorthon-2016-dont-kill-it

[Jox]

[Fantastic Fest Review] ‘Don’t Kill It’ Gives Dolph Lundgren a Chance to Shine
http://bloody-disgusting.com/reviews/34 ... t-kill-it/

[Jox]

Just WOW... So good I'll just paste the whole review.

http://birthmoviesdeath.com/2016/10/01/ ... llet-blast

Fantastic Fest: DON’T KILL IT Is A Rubber-Bullet Blast

Dolph gets the movie he deserves.

By EVAN SAATHOFF Oct. 01, 2016


There is a scene early in Don’t Kill It in which Dolph Lundgren’s professional demon Hunter Jebediah Woodley has to be forcibly removed from a sheriff’s office while explaining himself. Except he’s Dolph Lundgren, so the two cops yanking him out of the room are only strong enough to budge him a bit here and there. He uses this opportunity to deliver a long, multi-page monologue while struggling to keep these yahoos from taking him out of the room.

It’s here where Don’t Kill It separates itself from many other DTV-type films. The level of comedy is much higher than normal, and it’s delivered by a guy who until now never had much chance to show of his skills as an actor. While it’s low budget nature limits how many will actually watch this, no one will walk away thinking Dolph gave a bad performance.

Don’t Kill It is essentially an R-rated Supernatural episode. It’s a funny, gore-driven yet pleasantly mild tale of demons who transfer to whichever body kills them in an attempt to fucking take out everyone there is. Only Dolph can stop them because only Dolph knows and will accept what he’s dealing with.

Except that’s not exactly what happens. Dolph has a lot of bluster but ends up causing more problems than he solves, very much in the Jack Burton vein. The way he constantly leans against doors while smoking from a big vaporizer perfectly encapsulates his character’s vibe of cool yet not actually all that cool vibe. The film begins with him having sex with a lady he doesn’t realize is a prostitute. There’s one amazing scene where he talks a dad into drinking deadly poison and then killing his possessed daughter. The guy drinks the poison but dies before he can execute his important task. Dolph’s Jebediah Woodley doesn’t seem to even care that he just talked a dude into suicide for no reason.

Mike Mendez’s direction is silly enough to keep things fun, yet gory and violent enough to make sure the whole thing doesn’t become totally weightless. The result offers a good mixture of his Big Ass Spider! and The Last Heist. Occasionally he throws in some unconvincing CG gore, but for the most part the film’s carnage looks good.

Since his wacky turn as an insane priest in Johnny Mnomonic, Lundgren has shown a willingness to work outside the lines in which audiences place him. His DTV career is filled with wonderful attempts to do something different with his performances, but they are usually subtle. This one’s different. He not only gets to really run with a comedy performance, but he does so in a movie that matches his effort, showing once and for all what a fun actor he can be. I hope more people check Don’t Kill It if only to finally see the Dolph fans have been championing for years.

EDIT:
53 photos from Fantastic Fest
https://www.facebook.com/pg/fantasticfe ... 0027520710

[bomaz]

So far, the reviews emphasize what I was expecting : Dolph steals the show, and Mike Mendez understood that he had to rely on his actor to do the movie (knowing he had a teeny tiny budget and few shooting days). A good combination of stars here I think. I can't wait to see that.

[Jox]

http://www.cinesnob.net/dont-kill-it/

Dolph Lundgren is this movie’s secret weapon and one of the reasons why the movie works as well as it does. Dressed in a one-of-a-kind trench coat, sporting a hat that could rival Indiana Jones’, and armed with an array of weapons designed to subdue instead of kill, Jebediah Woodley is an awesome character, and you can tell how much fun Lundgren (who gets a producing credit here) had playing him.

Mike Mendez has produced an incredibly entertaining film that deserves to be seen with an audience. “Don’t Kill It” hits the ground running and doesn’t stop until literally its final shot. Lundgren has given us a character for the ages, one that I hope will return for more adventures.

[Jox]

Screening in Stockholm at Monster of Film festival on October 22

[viendammage]

Pardon if already posted but it's playing Scream Fest in Los Angeles on October 25th. I sent a feeler to do a screening soon after Fantastic Fest but didn't hear back or follow up, kind of wish I would have now!

https://facebook.com/profile.php?id=122 ... =typeahead

https://screamfestla.com/2016/film/dont ... -943756624

[Jox]

Cool !

[Jox]

Mayhem Film Festival ‏@mayhem_festival
In honour of our UK Premiere of @madmanmendez 's DON'T KILL IT on Sunday, @BroadwayCinema have named a special beer

Hanging out with Christopher Walken (A VIEW TO A KILL reunion!) at the Sitges festival (DKI screening tonight)

[Jox]

Dolph Lundgren receives the Time Machine Award and is the Star of Action Night
http://sitgesfilmfestival.com/eng/noticies/?id=1003391


At Sitges in 1992:


and today:







Press conference: