King of the Ants (I) (2003)

A young drifter discovers his true calling when he's hired by a mobster to stalk and kill a prominent accountant, and then decides to seek revenge when the stingy thugs try to kill him rather than pay him.

Director:

Stuart Gordon

Writers:

Charlie Higson (screenplay), Charlie Higson (novel)

Stars:

Chris McKenna, Kari Wuhrer, George Wendt

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Chris McKenna	...	Sean Crawley (as Chris L. McKenna)
Kari Wuhrer	...	Susan Gatley
George Wendt	...	Duke Wayne
Vernon Wells	...	Beckett
Lionel Mark Smith	...	Carl
Timm Sharp	...	George
Daniel Baldwin	...	Ray Mathews
Carissa Kosta	...	Maureen (as Carissa Koutantzis)
Briana Beghi	...	Maureen's Daughter
Carlie Westerman	...	Catlin Gatley
Ian Patrick Williams	...	Tony
Antoine Joseph	...	Drooling Idiot
Shuko Akune	...	Meade Park
Steve Heller	...	Gary (as Steven Heller)
Ken 'Bam Bam' Johnson Jr.	...	Apartment Kid

Storyline

The handyman Sean Crawler meets the electrician Duke Wayne while painting a house and they drink a couple of beers together and have a small talk. A couple of days later, Duke offers a job to Sean, and they meet the corrupt constructor Ray Matthews in a golf club. Ray proposes Sean to stalk the accountant from the City Hall Eric Gatley, who is investigating him, and report every movement of Eric to Ray. While chasing Eric, Sean sees his wife Susan and has a crush on her. When Ray offers US$ 13,000.00 to Sean to kill Eric, he accepts, but steals Ray's dossier before leaving the crime scene. However Sean is double-crossed by Ray and is brutally tortured by the real estate mobster and his men in a lonely ranch, but he does not tell where the file is. Sean succeeds in escaping, but severely wounded, he goes to the mission where Susan works and four weeks later he is healed. He tries to start a new life with Susan, but when she finds the documents and the truth about him, he plots a ...

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Plot Keywords:

accountant | drifter | house | torture | golf | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence and sexuality, nudity and language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 June 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

Asesino por naturaleza

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Anthill Productions, Asylum, The, Hecht Co.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Referenced in The Benchwarmers (2006)

User Reviews

Disturbingly Wonderful

The last good film Stuart Gordon made was 1985's "Re- Animator," which I also give a 7 of 10.

I mention the former mainly because this film is just as gripping and disturbing. This is not a horror-movie like the former, but it is "horrific" with its peculiar violent realism.

Not much by way of character-development for the protagonist, but in this case, the less said about him the better, or we may not come around to be sympathetic with him when it counts. What we do know of the character Sean Crawley is pretty damn ugly, but unknown actor Chris McKenna has a screen presence that makes him somewhat likable, or at least puts us in his corner in the end.

This film is not a good choice for mixed company, much less a date, but worth watching when home alone and prepared to be wonderfully disturbed.