Review

Most thrillers that are centered on the criminal world have become sanitized and homogenized over the years, and the genre now lacks a genuine sense of menace and danger. King of the Ants restores that element of primal violence with an unflinching vengeance, offering moments of mayhem that will make even the most jaded viewer cringe. Director Stuart Gordon is best known for his acclaimed Lovecraftian horror films Re-Animator and Dagon, and while this new film functions in the crime genre, Gordon brings the ferocity of his horror work to this often shocking tale of revenge. House painter Sean (Chris McKenna) is cajoled into serving as a first-time hitman for crime boss Ray (Daniel Baldwin) and his henchman (former "Cheers" regular George Wendt, in a startling departure). The contract completed, Sean expects to be paid, but the gang decides it would be simpler to just eliminate their newfound hitman. However, once Sean's killer switch has been flipped, a demon has been unleashed and he's not the pushover they expected. A nightmarish and increasingly surreal odyssey ensues in which golf clubs, sledgehammers, and refrigerators all contain lethal alternate uses. Gordon pulls no punches in depicting his characters' sadism, but King of the Ants is not gratuitous in its brutality -- rather, the film boldly chronicles the realistic outcome of violence in unsparing detail.

 -- Travis Crawford