‘What would it take to make you kill the one your love?’
WΔZ (pronounced double-u delta zed) is a 2007 British crime horror thriller film directed by Tom Shankland (The Children; Ripper Street) from a screenplay by Clive Bradley. The film was released in the United States as The Killing Gene.
It stars Stellan Skarsgård, Melissa George (The Amityville Horror; Turistas; 30 Days of Night), Selma Blair (The Fog) and Tom Hardy (Minotaur).
Plot:
There is something horribly wrong with the bodies found in the dark city streets. Some are mutilated while others have the Price equation (wΔz = Cov (w,z) = βwzVz) carved into their flesh.
Detective Eddie Argo and his new partner Helen Westcott unearth the meaning of the odd equation and realise each victim is being offered a gruesome choice: kill your loved ones, or be killed. Before long it becomes clear that the perpetrator has suffered a similar fate and is now coping by seeking a way to solve this philosophical dilemma…
Buy: Amazon.com
Reviews:
“Director Tom Shankland paints a grimy portrait that fits well with the Clive Bradley script. It is a great debut for both filmmakers who created a movie that works on almost every level.” Shawn S. Lealos, C.H.U.D.com
“This is a nasty horror thriller that has a Class of 1984 feel to it, although it has the most in common with the Saw series … boasts a talented cast, stark visuals and a grim story that’s equal parts unpleasant and (mildly) intriguing…” Cameron McGaughy, DVD Talk
“While the plot twists rarely come as a surprise, the film’s grimy feel and effective pacing, and a gripping – if occasionally rather over-exaggerated – central performance by Skarsgård, make this a genuinely thrilling venture into Se7en territory, despite the unfortunate silliness of the title.” Fortean Times
“Many of the answers are unbearably depressing, and Waz represents such an excruciating assault on our fragile notions of human decency that some viewers may not make it to the end – this would be an enormous pity; the scenario of the film’s conclusion, whilst foreseeable, is not only one of the most moving love-songs to human hope since Krzysztof Kieslowski’s A Short Film About Love (1988) but issues directly from the character-driven thrust of the narrative.” Martin Anderson, Den of Geek!
Buy: Amazon.co.uk
Cast and characters:
- Stellan Skarsgård as Eddie Argo
- Melissa George as Helen Westcott
- Selma Blair as Jean Lerner
- Tom Hardy as Pierre Jackson
- Ashley Walters as Daniel Leone
- Paul Kaye as Gelb
- Michael Wildman as O’Hare
- Sally Hawkins as Elly Carpenter
- Michael Liebman as Wesley Smith
- John Sharian as Jack Corelli
- Alibe Parsons as Miss Allaway
- Sean Brian Chipango as Jamal Osman / Khaled Osman
- Barbara Adair as Alice Jackson
- Lauren Hood as Sharon Williams
- Sheila Kerr as Alison Lerner
- Joshua O’Gorman as Dominic Carpenter
- Robert Phillips as Captain Maclean
- Marcus Valentine as Hassan Harbi
- Peter Ballance as Trucker
- Igor Smiljevic as SWAT leader
- Larry Cowan as Junkie
- Laurence Doherty as NY Detective
- Roy McManus as Paramedic
Trailer:
