Killing Time (1998)

A lot of fun.

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

"Killing Time" is an exploitation film with a revenge theme. What makes it unique, is the method employed for the revenge. A cop whose partner was killed by a mobster boss, hires a classy Italian hit woman to take out the target. As a little insurance, the cop also sends four goons to kill the hit woman, whom he can't afford to pay. This scenario is fertile ground for some black humor intermingled with the revenge plot. Kendra Torgan plays the female assassin, much like Zoe Tamerlis in "Ms 45", She has little to say, but lots of bullets doing her talking. To fully enjoy the movie you must suspend disbelief, and be willing to put up with a lot of meaningless chatter. Recommended of it's type. - MERK

As a cynical take on British gangster movies, this film is highly successful.(***Slight Spoilers!***)Is it unrealistic? Absolutely. One striking thing about this film is that there are absolutely no bystanders to be seen anywhere. Every single person you see on screen, even in the metropolitan areas, is either a part of the action or a victim of the violence. This movie is entirely "extraless". Deserted subway stations, empty streets, and guestless hotel lobbies are the rule. Hotel guests don't complain about gunfire in the hotel, but they do complain about noisy plumbing when a couple cell phones are flushed down the toilet. And the idea of a hit-woman (who would want to be low-profile and unmemorable) who is strikingly beautiful, dressed like a "Matrix" reject, and who speaks absolutely no English even though she has to carry out a hit in England, does not require further comment.Does it have any significant backstory or character development? No...absolutely not. You take the characters as you get them. They are cartoons.Does it demonstrate any moral judgment? Don't worry...nothing challenging in this department either.So why is it worth seeing?Well, it is a fairly pure movie in that it has few pretensions other than to mock certain film conventions. There are some deft touches, including several at the end of the movie. The final shot, with the hit-woman "disappearing" over an extended period, is rather memorable, even if pure film-school.In summary, I have wasted time on supposedly better crime movies (like "The Road to Perdition")and actually enjoyed this film. If you have a chance to see this relatively short and unpretentious movie, I think that you should.

It's such a shame that the acting in Killing Time is unbelievably bad. The film does have a decent plot, and the lead role of Maria the Assassin, played by Kendra Torgen is worth renting the film just for her. She is stunning! It's a shame she isn't in any other movies..yet.As for Killing Time, the film is set (I think) in Newcastle, Northern England. I've seen Get Carter (The 1971 version), which was also a gangster movie set in Newcastle, and decided to give this a whirl.***** SPOLIERS AHEAD... Do not Read, If You Havent Seen the Film!!! *** I quite enjoyed it. The story of a semi-corrupt cop who hires an Italian Hit-Woman, who speaks no English, to kill off a Gangster boss that has killed his partner. He then hires another group of hitmen to kill of her, after she has completed her job!The fun starts, then. She has some spare time, until her intended target arrives on the 17:40 train. So, she takes baths, kills off the target's henchmen, and also has to deal with the guys that are trying to kill her. She also learns English from a "Learn English" cassette, which becomes apparent at the end of the film. It's a good film, with some funny humour, it's just a shame the acting is sooo terrible, and the lovely Ms. Torgen hasnt appeared in anything else to date.

The movie isn't really that good. People on low budgets shouldn't make action movies unless they plan to do a lot of martials arts in them. However Kendra Torgan is an absolute babe, the fact she barely speaks English in the movie just adds to her mystery. I don't know much about this actress, but would certainly look forward to seeing her in a movie that makes more of her obvious talents. There are some quite funny bits in the movie, like when she is trying to shoot an apple off one of her captive's head. Also the way she walks around with a learn English tape is amusing and it's nice the way the tape comes in handy at the end of the movie. On the whole though I'd only give the movie 4 out of 10.