The Killing Time (1987)

What makes it different from others?

Lack of good storyline.

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

I rented this movie and was very disappointed in it. I like Kiefer a lot, but this is not one of his best performances. His acting isn't bad, but it's not good either. The movie is boring and I should have rented something else. And as for Camelia Kath, I've seen better looking scare-crows in farmer's fields. She's gross! The story line is nothing special, good cop against bad cop. This can get boring really fast. Wife plans murder of her husband with her boyfriend. Brilliant! And you just know it's not going to go as planned. If you need help getting to sleep tonight, rent or buy this movie. Sweet dreams!!! I give this movie a 1 out of 10.

If "The Killing Time" is ranked well below average, this is mainly due to its implausibility and inconsistency. I could enumerate lots of reasons why the scenario is totally incredulous, but simply describing how the film starts, will suffice: A stranger (Sutherland) kills a man who was on his way to a job as a deputy sheriff in a small California coastal town. The murderer subsequently goes to the town, assuming the killed man's identity and starting to work in the police precinct himself, without anyone noticing that there is something wrong! The sequel of events does not get any more plausible: We watch the existing deputy sheriff Sam Wayborn (Bridges), as he plans along with his girlfriend Laura Winslow (Kath), the murder of her husband Jake (Rogers), with the intent of putting the blame on his new colleague. Throughout this inconsistent story we experience lots of annoying plot gaps, which render the movie a rather boring experience.Unfortunately, the direction does not help either. I do not know the other works of director Rick King, but I bet this is not his best one...The same goes with the acting: With the exception of Kiefer Sutherland, who manages to inject some liveliness in his role as a psycho stranger, the rest of the cast is mired in mediocrity.Quite disappointing. 3/10.

we bought this movie, as a second-hand copy, and first thing to strike us, was that we didn't have to turn up the sound, and talking bout sound, this score is one of the best we have heard, if score means coordinatiniton with the scenes in motion. the scenes too were artistically cut, to the score. we strongly recommend this copy to be copied by serious distributors for the future. unlike recent releases like matrix and others one can actually see and mostly hear this movie on and on. the screenplay is predictable, and a copy of an old perry mason episode. reference: new world international, danish copy by filmlab no 7736.

This one could have been better. The scenario works, the good cop not being totally good and the bad guy not entirely bad. Beau Bridges does a reliable job and Kiefer Sutherland even works to do a role out of the ordinary kiefer. However, the director ruins everything. The result is boring beyond limits. All the suspense comes from the screenplay and the final is totally flat. As a matter of fact, I have never seen a movie where screenplay and direction differ in quality as clearly as in this one.