Random Acts of Violence
Does art influence life, or does life influence art? That’s the question at the center of actor-turned-filmmaker Jay Baruchel’s first horror film, Random Acts of Violence, a chaotic mash-up of slasher films and comic book fandom that doesn’t skimp on the gore.
Jesse Williams (Grey's Anatomy) stars as Todd Walkley, a comic book author known for a popular R-rated series based on a serial killer from his hometown. Todd is struggling to finish the series’ final issue ahead of an impending press tour, and agrees to join his publisher, Ezra (Baruchel), on a road trip to the place where the story began. It’s there that this fictional character, or perhaps the killer it’s based on, springs back to life for one final spree of violence and mayhem.
Joining the duo is Todd’s girlfriend Kathy (Jordana Brewster, The Fast & The Furious films) — who’s attempting to write a book about the murderer’s victims — their assistant, Aurora (Niamh Wilson, The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet). Baruchel’s script (co-written with his Goon: Last of the Enforcers collaborator Jesse Chabot and based on the comic by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti) makes it easy to like each character and understand the dynamics of their relationships, but aside from Todd, we don’t really get to know anyone. Ezra is a copy/paste version of Baruchel’s signature “smartass narcissist” persona and Kathy is the loving, but not supportive girlfriend. Aurora barely speaks enough to have an identity, but they do draw, and that artwork at least gives audiences something interesting to look at between deaths.
Also helping matters is the film’s active pace. Todd’s flashbacks to a childhood he only remembers in fits and bursts are interjected between travel sequences that lead the group to a tiny Canadian town where past horror still casts a heavy shadow. Ezra’s careless efforts to promote the comic book create tension in the community, and, arguably, serve as the kickoff for the maniacal villain’s emergence.
Speaking of the bloody spree, Random Acts of Violence more than lives up to its name. The kills are creative and the effects are practical. There are decapitations, mutilations, and more than enough stabbings to make even the most callous genre fans wince. Baruchel’s antagonist takes cues from slasher greats as the figure lumbers from scene to scene, appearing at the just the right moment for maximum scares and carnage without fear of retaliation. The killer seems unstoppable, wildly inventive, and familiar without being boring.
And if the film’s only aspiration was to deliver thrills and chills in the bloodiest ways possible while introducing a creatively destructive menace to the world of horror, it would be a runaway success. However, Baruchel also wants to make viewers think, and his attempts at waxing philosophically about the nature of terror produces a causality dilemma that doesn’t fit the film’s down-and-dirty grit. Even as the third act reaches its peak with a dinner party borne from the depths of hell, the film grapples with what kind of story it wants to tell.
Baruchel has proven his ability to spin original yarns that balance humor and heart through his Goon series, and while Random Acts of Violence shows that he may someday master scares in the same way, his execution needs work. The friction between the gore in front of the camera and the messages explored through dialogue never gel as well as one would hope. As a result, the final product is messy, and not in the way horror fans expect.
Grade: C. Not rated. Available to stream via Shudder
(Photo: Elevation Pictures).
