Sightseers

Movie rating: 3 and half Star

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And the award for Bizarre Comedy of the Year goes to... this little belter. A sense of humour the colour of charcoal is needed for this Natural Born Killers meets League Of Gentleman road movie which sees a normal couple embark on a killing spree while on hols in the British Midlands.

Tina (Lowe) and Chris (Oram) have been going out a few months and decide the time is right to take a camping trip to see the sights. So they load up the caravan, hook it up to Chris's car, ignore Alice's sick mum's guilt trip, and off they go. They see a tramway and pencil museum, check out the local camping sites and, oh yeah, murder anyone who rubs them up the wrong way. As you do.

In a completely different tone to the encroaching malevolent atmosphere of Kill List, Sightseers has such a jovial and jaunty vibe, you're almost bouncing along in the seat. The kills that crop up are delivered with such an irreverent shrug of the shoulders it's hard to enjoy a guilty snigger when someone's head is mashed against a rock. When Chris accidently runs a rude man over, he huffs, 'He's ruined the tram museum for me now.' Another victim is dispatched because his accent had the sense of entitlement one gets when educated in a private school. The Wheatley menace is here but it's deeply buried under the polite smiles and I Love Yous and More Tea, Love?

If the last ten minutes of Kill List went off the rails, then Sightseers does the opposite. Steering a steady ship home was not the way to go: with no change in tone or events, it rumbles on rather than raising the stakes and going out with a bang. It's also hard to ignore the fact that it isn't really about anything. But Lowe and Oram are terrific and their deadpan humour is the winning factor with Wheatley's free-wheeling style allowing them to wander off the page (they co-wrote the script) and enjoy some natural back and forth.

Try and ignore the limp ending because with its quirky humour, quotable dialogue and unexpected violence, this is a cult movie waiting to happen.

Review by Gavin Burke | 14:50 | Friday 30th November 2012 | Movie Review

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