Office Killer
Office Killer
R | 03 December 1997 (USA)
Office Killer Trailers

When Dorine Douglas' job as proofreader for Constant Consumer magazine is turned into an at-home position during a downsizing, she doesn't know how to cope. But after accidentally killing one of her co-workers, she discovers that murder can quench the loneliness of her home life, as a macabre office place forms in her basement, populated by dead co-workers.

Reviews
LeonLouisRicci

Crossing Over from Her Highly Successful Career as a Still Photographer, Cindy Sherman Directed this Lifeless, Lame, and Limp Horror Parody that is Boring and Bland and Except for a Couple of Interesting Scenes, Utterly Unwatchable.A Doctoral Thesis could be Written, maybe it has, about the Similarities and Differences between Still Photography and Cinematography. After All, Film is Literally "Moving" Pictures, thats why Initially they were Called "Moving Pictures".But what Sherman has done here is Demonstrate that it is a Different Aesthetic. It is Quite Surprising that a Renowned Photographer could make such a Murky Looking, Uninspired, Movie. It just Appears Flat and Vacuous. The Color Schemes are Dull, the Lighting Cloudy, and for the Most Part it is Styleless. The Acting is All Over the Place with Each Actor Giving a Performance that is Unconnected to the Other Players and the Film Itself. No One Seems to have any Direction and are Left to Their Own Devices. The Girl Scouts are Unsettling and Aside from the Opening Credits is just about the Only Time the Movie Rises Above Awful.

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acidburn-10

I remembering seeing this in my local video shop and well didn't think much, but I ended up picking this up anyway, kinda by accident and when I got round to watching this, well it wasn't bad, not amazing or brilliant, and not terrible, but somewhere in the middle. I think that this is the only slasher with an office setting, which is a shame as it could be quite interesting. To my surprise this movie has quite a few familiar faces such as Carol Kane (When A Stranger Calls), Molly Ringwald (The Breakfast Club) and Jeannie Tripplehorn (Basic Instinct).The plot seemed interesting enough, a mousey employee goes on a killing spree when she's handed her pink slip at the office. The tone is surprisingly light Carol Kane plays her part well as down trodden would be serial killer Doreen, without going over the top and I really enjoyed Molly Ringwald as the bitchy secretary whose sole purpose is to be a total bitch.But some aspects of this movie simply doesn't work, like the comedy element is almost entirely humourless, the characters are plain and boring and didn't feel for them when they got killed. I would have liked this movie to go a lot darker and the killings to be a lot more innovative instead they were just boring and lacked any thrills.All in all not a terrible waste of time, but is kind of forgettable which makes this movie very average, but seeing familiar faces in a movie like this is always fun.

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mark-506

In the mid-90's, there was this weird trend where 80's New York art stars were all given the chance to direct feature films. The less-than-impressive results: Robert Longo's "Johnny Mnemonic," David Salle's "Search and Destroy," Julian Schnabel's "Basquiat" and finally Cindy Sherman's "Office Killer." That only Schnabel moved on to direct a second feature says a lot about these poor directorial choices. Surprise - just because you can paint a picture or take a photograph doesn't mean you know how to make a movie.That said, "Office Killer" has a unique look to it: Sherman's photographic eye makes for some nice creepy compositions, even if her philosophy about using a camera cinematically is of the bolt-it-to-the-ground-and-maybe-pan-a-little school. And she works well with cinematographer Russell Fine, though the whole film is shot through a murky lens that had this viewer crying out for the occasional bright exterior just to add a little contrast.So what went wrong with "Office Killer"? Well, pretty much what you'd predict would go wrong with a photographer director who had never made a film before: uneven pacing; more attention paid to the setup of a shot than to what's going on in it; a lack of tension; and a cast who, with the exception of the ever-willing Carol Kane, don't seem to know what to do. Aware that they're working for a famous photographer, they quietly obey, even while Sherman clearly has little experience in working with actors. Michael Imperioli and Jeanne Tripplehorn have been far better elsewhere, Barbara Sukowa is flat-out bad, and Molly Ringwald is her usual depthless self. The script is also somewhat leaden, given its dark comic potential."Office Killer" is still a curiosity, interesting mainly for aficionados of Cindy Sherman's work (and you've got to admire those cool opening credits), though horror fans who enjoyed the better-received "May" (which I personally didn't care for) might like this movie's look and mood. As for me, I couldn't shake off the feeling that this is the product of a bunch of chuckling New York hipsters who thought they were doing something "postmodern" and "ironic" but only churned out something uninspired and limp... albeit artsy.

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Mikew3001

Dorine is a real wallflower - a middle-aged, shy, ugly single woman living at home with her mum and working as an editor for a small newspaper, she's a real outsider. After she has killed a colleague by accident in a lonely late night shift, she hides his corpse in her cellar. This "accident" changes her mind, and she starts having fun killing her mobbing colleagues one by one and hiding them all in her dark cellar...Photographer Cindy Sherman's directional debut has a very nice plot idea, but that's all. The direction is too weak and boring, and the actors - Carol Kane as Dorine and Molly Ringwald, Jeanette Tripplehorn and stunning Barbara Sukowa as her colleagues can't bring their roles to life. The acting is often exaggerated, the dialogues are too ridiculous, Kane is screaming much too often, and Evan Lurie's pseudo avantgarde score sounds like a bland, cheap home keyboard recording. It would have been a nice try to produce this kind of home office version of the "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" in a real comedy or horror style, but his movie doesn't know where to go. Too pointless, too boring, and too much over the top unfortunately.

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