The Killing Gene

Play trailer

The Killing Gene

R

2007

1h 44m

Crime

Drama

Horror

Mystery & Thriller

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

64%

Tomatometer

14 Reviews

36%

Popcornmeter

2,500+ Ratings

A killer coerces a detective to pay for his past mistakes.

Watch on Fandango

Stream Now

Nigel Andrews

Financial Times

Feb 22, 2008

Think of Saw and multiply it by Seven.

Go to Full Review

David Gritten

Daily Telegraph (UK)

Feb 22, 2008

A little too close to torture-porn for most tastes, but debutant director Tom Shankland shows promise.

Go to Full Review

Peter Bradshaw

Guardian

Feb 22, 2008

1/5

This serial-killer horror is a knockoff of the now seriously knackered Saw franchise.

Go to Full Review

Toni Vall

Cinemanía (Spain)

Nov 3, 2020

2/5

[An] inexplicable climax. [Full review in Spanish]

Go to Full Review

Lucius Gore

ESplatter

Aug 10, 2008

2/4

'The Killing Gene' feels like a film that was trying to be something else -- maybe a dark and bloody episode of 'The Wire.'

Go to Full Review

Mark Samuels

Total Film

Feb 22, 2008

3/5

Ugly to look at and nasty in the extreme, this British-made flick should please genre fans with its icky body horror. Beneath the surface gore, there's a healthy amount of psychological intensity for such a seemingly hackneyed Fincher clone.

Go to Full Review

Read all reviews

Jerod S

@jeroduptown Sep 17, 2025

Selma Blair is mad and taking out some killing revenge because the police didn't do their jobs. Nails under the nails.

See more

Ian H

@Howellsey Aug 31, 2025

Darkly entertaining with some genuinely horrible moments

See more

Alex C

@RT82897175 Oct 10, 2023

Boring, lacks a story. The acting was really good, overall not great.

See more

Oct 18, 2021

If you watch carefully and notice Mr Skaarsgards facial expressions this film is not hard to follow or understand. basically a revenge film and I love that genre. good story good acting, just a bit dark( as in lighting) which can be annoying.

See more

Jan 3, 2021

Slow-burner. Got to read some of my favourite book but as it got into it I stalled. Stereo-types and anti-stereotypes?! Hmm.. would I watch it again.. maybe, depends on if there are any really good films there are out there. But still an ok film for that. Lead did make me look up other suitable (action-ish) titles to check out, so heh, not all bad. Brave for lead to ?bare? all. Don't know why it only got 36% audience rating, it was worth more than that. Soooo critical!

See more

Aug 10, 2020

Low budgetbut good mysterymovie if you can hike the brightness up

See more

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

POST RATING

Tom Shankland

Director

Stellan Skarsgård

Eddie Argo

Melissa George

Helen Westcott

Selma Blair

Jean Lerner

Ashley Walters

Daniel Leone

John Sharian

Jack Corelli

Pusher

46%

34%

Pusher

Watchlist

Choose

40%

17%

Choose

Watchlist

Borderland

88%

43%

Borderland

Watchlist

Law Abiding Citizen

26%

75%

Law Abiding Citizen

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Law Abiding Citizen

The Lodger

21%

31%

The Lodger

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Synopsis

A killer coerces a detective to pay for his past mistakes.

Director: Tom Shankland
Producer: Allan Niblo, James Richardson
Screenwriter: Clive Bradley
Production Co: Vertigo Films
Rating: R (Pervasive Language|Gruesome Images|Rape|Strong Brutal Violence)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Horror, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 28, 2021
Runtime: 1h 44m

Join The Newsletter

Join The Newsletter

Cookie Settings