A Horrible Way to Die

Plot

An escaped murderer is in pursuit of his ex-girlfriend, who has fled to start a new life in a small town.

Release Year: 2010

Rating: 5.1/10 (871 voted)

Critic's Score: 52/100

Director:
Adam Wingard

Stars: AJ Bowen, Amy Seimetz, Joe Swanberg

Storyline
An escaped murderer is in pursuit of his ex-girlfriend, who has fled to start a new life in a small town.

Cast:

AJ Bowen
–

Garrick Turrell

Amy Seimetz
–

Sarah

Joe Swanberg
–

Kevin

Brandon Carroll
–

Rusty

Lane Hughes
–

Reed

Melissa Boatright
–

Jessie

Steven Buehler
–

State Trooper 1

Skip Harvey
–

Driver #2

Jen Huemmer
–

Dark-haired woman

Whitney Moore
–

Daphne

Holly Voges
–

Carla

Michael J. Wilson
–

Jones

Release Date: 19 August 2011

Filming Locations: Columbia, Missouri, USA

User Review

A good independent film despite the camera work

Rating:

Garrick Turrell (AJ Bowen) is one mean ass mother. As A Horrible Way to
Die opens, we see Garrick opening his truck and pulling out a scared
and bound young girl. He then takes her to the woods and strangles her
to death.

We are reintroduced to Garrick in prison and we learn that he is a
prolific serial killer with a fan base unrivaled in the prison system.
But when Garrick escapes in transport, his murderous trail begins again
and his impulsive homicidal behavior will be the focus of state-wide
searches.

We also meet Sarah (Amy Seimetz). Sarah is a soft spoken and somewhat
timid girl we meet first at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting where she
testifies to being four months sober. Here, she meets Kevin (Joe
Swanberg), another recovering alcoholic that befriends Sarah and the
two are soon dating.

As the film switches between both the past and present, we learn that
Sarah and Garrick used to be a couple. Garrick would consistently leave
the house in the middle of the night for his killing sprees and Sarah's
drinking obstructed her from revealing exactly who Garrick was. That
is, until one night she follows Garrick to a storage garage where his
murderous secret is revealed.

Sarah immediately calls the police so we can assume that now that
Garrick has freed himself from incarceration, revenge for Sarah turning
him in would be first on his mind.

A Horrible Way to Die follows both Sarah's and Garrick's stories both
in the past together and separately as the two begin a path that will
surely have them reunite. Director Adam Wingard (Pop Skull, 2007) uses
a single camera that constantly zooms in and out of focus as his
shooting style to bring their story to the screen. The effect can be at
times brilliant and at other times annoying and headache inducing.

Both stories are equally interesting in their respective paths. Sarah's
budding relationship with Kevin is honest and genuine in its portrayal
thanks largely to the great acting performance by Seimetz. Garrick's
story is more gruesome. He continues to impulsively murder countless
individuals on his search for Sarah with a kitchen and dinner knife
being his weapon of choice.

The wild card in the story is Kevin. We will not reveal any further
details other than the final 20 minutes will have you wondering which
if any of the three major characters will survive.

There are a lot of holes in the film. And Garrick has no serial killer
M.O. He uses knives, strangles, leaves bodies, keeps others n freezers