Edinburgh

WAZ

 (U.K.)

By DEREK ELLEY

Melissa George and Stellan Skarsgard investigate a series of murders linked to a mysterious equation in director Tom Shankland's 'WAZ.'

A Vertigo Films (in U.K.)/the Weinstein Co. (in U.S.) release of a Vertigo Films, U.K. Film Council, Ingenious Film Partners, Northern Ireland Film & TV Commission presentation of a Vertigo Films production. (International sales: Pathe Pictures Intl., London.) Produced by Allan Niblo, James Richardson. Executive producers, Robert Morgan, Rupert Preston, Nick Love, Duncan Reid, Peter Touche. Co-producer, Michael Casey. Directed by Tom Shankland. Screenplay, Clive Bradley.
 
Eddie Argo - Stellan Skarsgard
Helen Westcott - Melissa George
Jean Lerner - Selma Blair
Daniel Leone - Ashley Walters
Pierre Jackson - Tom Hardy
Dr. Gelb - Paul Kaye
Jack Corelli - John Sharian
Elly Carpenter - Sally Hawkins
Capt. Maclean - Robert Phillips
 

Though it's hardly a fun night out at the movies, grungy, Gotham-set "WAZ" reps a mightily impressive feature debut by Brit TV helmer Tom Shankland that should put him on Tinseltown's Rolodexes. Pedal-to-the-metal combo of serial-killer crimer and blood-soaked hell-ride tips its hat to classics like "Seven" and current gorefests like "Saw," but carves its own genre identity by adding a smidgen of heart. Strong Euro flavor (in not spelling everything out) and largely fake setting (pic was mostly shot in Belfast with a non-American cast) may limit its appeal Stateside, but at a sheer technical level, "WAZ" distastefully delivers.

Script by TV writer Clive Bradley was inspired by the so-called Price equation, which begins with the letters W-Delta-Z (title appears with the Delta symbol in the film, though it's been simplified in common usage to "WAZ"). None of this is known to city cop Eddie Argo (Stellan Skarsgard) and his new assistant -- cute, ponytailed Helen Westcott (Aussie thesp Melissa George) -- when they're called out to see two horribly mutilated bodies near the docks one night. One is gang leader Jemal; the other is an electrocuted woman with "WAZ" carved on her pregnant belly.

Eddie suspects rival gang leader and all-around crackhead Pierre Jackson (rising Brit actor Tom Hardy), since the woman was the girlfriend of Wesley, one of Pierre's gang members. But Wesley's found slaughtered, as well as his twin brother.

Only when the cops track down the anesthetic used in the executions do they hear about the Price equation from a lab scientist, Dr. Gelb (Paul Kaye). In one of several leaps of logic that pepper the script -- but are largely rendered immaterial by Shankland's roller-coaster direction -- Eddie and Helen ascertain that in each pair of victims, one was forced to kill the other (a loved one) to stop being tortured.

Eddie suspects Jean Lerner (Selma Blair), who once worked at Gelb's lab and was greatly affected by learning about the Price equation. She's now testing its efficacy by kidnapping members of Pierre's gang, with whom she has unfinished business.

In its first hour, the pic covers a lot of ground -- and several large script potholes -- until Jean is first seen onscreen, torturing Pierre in a horrific basement Ed Gein would have been proud to own. But just as the motor to the drama is not whodunit but whydunit, so Jean is portrayed more as a reluctant serial killer than one who gets off on the violence. Downplaying the role, Blair, the only Yank in a leading part, is very effective in an offhand way.

An unexpected plot revelation not only brings Eddie to the center of the drama but also, in a neat twist, helps Jean test the efficacy of the Price equation once and for all.

Growling his way through the lead role as if he'd swallowed a plate of gravel, Skarsgard comes perilously close to parodying a hardboiled New York cop, more '70s than 21st century. As a typical perky greenhorn (and providing some visual relief from all the Stygian goings-on), George's Helen is also cut from the same comicbook. However, both actors grow in their roles, along with Waters, whose Daniel comes to take a central role in the drama.

All thesps are carried along by Shankland's pacey direction, aided by restless handheld photography by Danish d.p. Morten Soborg ("Pusher") and tight-as-a-drum cutting by Tim Murrell. Lugubrious score by David Julyan is a further atmosphere-builder.

Sound could be improved, as a fair chunk of the dialogue is difficult to make out. Transfer from HD to widescreen 35mm is excellent, the cold colors fitting the story.

Camera (color, widescreen, HD-to-35mm), Morten Soborg; editor, Tim Murrell; music, David Julyan; production designer, Ashleigh Jeffers; art directors, Shane Bunting, Gillian Devenney, Nigel Pollock; costume designer, Maggie Donnelly; sound (Dolby Digital), Paul Maynes, Tobias Fleig; sound designer, Christian Conrad; special makeup effects designer, Paul Hyett; stunt coordinator, Igor Breakenback; associate producers, Brock Norman Brock, Emma Hartley; assistant director, Marco Ciglia; casting, Gary Davy. Reviewed at Edinburgh Film Festival (British Gala), Aug. 20, 2007. (Also in Fantasy Film Festival, Germany.) Running time: 105 MIN.