Selected for an important contract killing due to his detached and unemotional approach towards murder, an arrogant young assassin questions his own skills after discovering that his next target is a woman in this slick thriller. Vince Edwards is excellent as the confident contract killer who simply sees murder as a great way to supplement his income. Along the lines of 'Strangers on a Train', he also professes that "the only type of safe killing is when a stranger kills a stranger" and the film has some fun comic relief moments as he often unsettles two goons sent to accompany him. Solid as Phillip Pine and Herschel Bernardi are as the goons though, their purpose is never clear and film veers close to being a comedy at times with the goons and his failed attempts to kill the woman from afar. Generally speaking though, this is an intense and riveting thriller. The film benefits from a catchy, taunting music score inspired by 'The Third Man' and Edwards has an undeniably fascinating character. Is he worried about killing her because he has more moral fibre than he would like to admit or is it genuinely harder to kill a woman? Whatever the case, this is a fascinating look into a dangerous mind.
Review of Murder by Contract
