Body Count

An 80’s Canadian made-for-TV movie shot on video with no budget and bad acting… you can see where this is going.

But before we get into that, what the hell is up with this cover? It doesn’t make sense. I can’t even make out what it is supposed to be. There are three characters on the cover, none from the movie itself, randomly placed on… something. You can actually see the piss-poor utility knife cuts around the people on the cover, most likely lifted from a K-Mart catalogue. But what I can’t get over is the background these cutouts are placed on; seriously, what the hell is that? I don’t get what it is. It’s doesn’t make sense…

… And that should be a clear indication of what to expect from Body Count: a movie that doesn’t make much sense. The story is about a serial killer on the loose with the cops on his tail. We meet a cab driver, Mark, who gets caught up in the investigation as a suspect through the unfortunate circumstance of simply being in the area when the murders occur. If that wasn’t difficult enough, he is falling in love with a petty con artist whose only role in the movie is to be a love interest. It seems simple enough, and is really boring more than anything else and offers nothing special; it looks like just another crime drama with bad production values (the best example of this is when you see the SWAT team riding around in a newspaper truck).

Then there’s Paul, a shy, good-looking man who at the beginning seems to have no place in the story. Then he pays a visit to the doctor, who tells him he is dying. This apparently drives him… TO KILL! The movie suddenly gets interesting when he walks in a park and pulls out A FREAKIN’ SNIPER RIFLE and shoots a face in the crowd! Where the hell did that come from?!? Then it gets weird; the cops find a body at the local pier, then receive a call from Paul, who tells them he didn’t kill that person but is in fact the serial killer!! What the fuck? At first it seems like this guy decided to start killing because he was dying and is suddenly taking blame for all the murders. But as the story progresses we realize he really is the serial killer, which begs the question why the hell was he killing everyone in the first place, before he found out he was dying? Did the knowledge of dying change him? Was he even the killer? And what about that body found in the pier? Does that not matter anymore? Who killed whom again? Why haven’t you killed that annoying cabbie yet? It’s way too confusing at this point. Then another woman enters the story and then becomes the love interest for Paul. What the hell is she doing here?!? Now it’s getting ridiculous!

For the most part, Body Count is rather boring; much of it is your run-of-the-mill crime drama. Hell, trying to guess what the hell is on that cover can be more entertaining than this movie. But when we see Paul the sensitive dying man-child revealed as Paul the sensitive dying psycho-killer, this movie gets interesting. Not enough to hold it up, but enough to make it watchable. None of it makes sense when you try to piece the plot together, and if you can get past that you still have the bad production values and awful overacting to get through. But it has its moments that make it worth checking out. This one is pretty hard to find so call it a hidden b-movie gem. Just look for the bizarre cover made by a six-year-old.

Final Mark: 2/5



EXTRA CRAP
The Good: This movie does teach you a lesson: always keep your head down. You’ll know what that means when you watch it.

The Bad: Corporate videos look better than this.

The Ugly: Did I mention the cover?

In A Nutshell: Always approach made-for-TV movies shot on low-grade video with extreme caution, especially this one.

Useless Trivia: Star Jonathan Potts had a career after this film; he was the voice of ‘Link’ in the old Nintendo Saturday morning cartoon, and played Prof. Lowe in Jason X. It may not be a favourable career, but he’s done well for himself.

Favourite Quote(s):

• Detective Cory: The woman; did you shoot her?
  Paul: Sure, that was me
  Detective Cory: And the young couple?
  Paul: They died.
• Mark: You know what I wish?
  Lori: I'm afraid to ask.
  Mark: I wish I had the guts to touch you.
• Detective Al: I should have killed him. I should have waited right there in the cab and BLOWN his bloody brains out!