The Killing Jar (1997)

A fair 'thriller'

First of all... the cover is decieving. The human in a jar never happens, so points off for that.
Secondly, the plot is good but not carried out well. This movie reminded me of the old 'Movie of the Week' or 'Made for TV' movies by its quality.
It had a very strong story line, but the translation onto film just didn't work too well.
The plot was not seamless and the majority is delivered through flashback. That can work at times, but here too much time is spent in the buildup. It takes most of the film to lead to the 'juicy' parts and then it's over quickly.
The music doesn't go well either. It seems to lessen the effects of the moment.
The acting is middle of the road. The main character's mood swings are too severe with little tangible reasons for it and little credibility to the scenes.
I would like to see this movie reworked (I cannot believe I'm saying that with how poorly remakes are done). I would hope emphasis would be on delivering a more taut and tense film with less buildup and more action. September 15, 2007

Right Up There

The Killing Jar turned out to be a neat little "B" movie, complete with just the right amount of excitement, good acting, and suspense. It had me wondering all the way to the end. Lots of gore, if you are turned off by such things, but just right for me. The only flaw that I noticed is that at the end, they left some strings untied, such as did a couple of the guys who were very badly wounded actually die, or not. Otherwise, I enjoyed it, and I'm glad that I purchased it. My kind of flick! May 26, 2001

A Surprisingly Good Thriller!

I saw this movie the other day on cable and thought it was done really well. The opening scenes with the flashbacks were great, and the music was errie. The performances were pretty good as well. It definitely kept my attention until the very end. I thought I knew who the killer was, but as in all good thrillers, I was wrong. I'm glad I could purchase this movie from AMAZON, a surprisingly good thriller that I'm glad I own! March 6, 2000

Errie, Suspense, Thriller

The Killing Jar is a B-Budget movie with a very good story line. The Scenes are run smoothly, and details in the story are tightly used to tell the story. Great performances by the Leads, and in particular Tamlyn Tomita, who's character didn't have to be asian to fill this role. Often, when asian characters are in the story it's because the story calls for it. Her character could have been played by anyone, and that is good for an Asian actress to be able to play parts outside of being Asian October 27, 1999

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