
A stranger armed with a shotgun takes seven patrons hostage in a remote roadside diner. But as the body count increases, the desperate survivors discover that one of the hostages may be even more dangerous than their captor.... (Full plot summary below)
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A stranger armed with a shotgun takes seven patrons hostage in a remote roadside diner. But as the body count increases, the desperate survivors discover that one of the hostages may be even more dangerous than their captor.
Leave your thoughts about The Killing Jar.
| The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisA cheapie hostage drama with a lot more swagger than substance, The Killing Jar strains to wring tension from a tired premise and an airless script. |
| Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleBenson is so terrible her close-up line readings feel as inconsequential as the insert shots, and Madsen, it must be said, finally looks exasperated with playing grumbly psychos. At times he looks as helpless as his hostages. |
| Time OutAaron HillisMark Young’s bargain-basement thriller is as witless as the captor’s motive; to paraphrase another well-dressed Madsen psycho, this little doggie barks, but it has no bite. |
| The Hollywood ReporterMichael RechtshaffenA cliched, talky variation on the 1936 Bogie classic "The Petrified Forest," with scant dramatic tension but gallons of spilled blood on the menu. |
| Village VoiceErnest HardyThe film has no pulse and feels interminable, with its stilted dialogue, static staging, and usually fine actors who are horrendous here--Amber Benson is all moist-eyed empathy as the waitress while Madsen is laughably bad. |
| User Revieweva3si0nI don't understand why The Killing Jar has such a low rating. Yes, The Killing Jar is not an outstanding chamber film, but not bad. There is suspense, there is a simple formula with a murderer and hostages, there is also a plot twist. And it all works in general. As a movie for one viewing, it will go well. Of course, the finale is somewhat disappointing, after all, the main plot twist is read by the viewer in the middle of the film. But attention to at least one detail that is casually spoken at the beginning of the film and which it ends is surprising. A good chamber thriller with a simple story. |