Warner Bros’ New Horror is The Perfect Replacement for 2 Modern Cult Classics

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But its financial performance and inevitable cult status aren’t the only ways They Will Kill You is similar to Ready or Not. For that matter, it’s similar to a few other beloved cult movies. Let’s unpack which ones and why.

Of course, spoilers for They Will Kill You follow.

What Movies Come to Mind When Watching They Will Kill You?

They Will Kill You follows Zazie Beetz’s Asia Reaves, who has arrived at the high-rise building The Virgil to start her new job as a maid. But she’s really just pretending to be the new hire. In reality, she’s taken that woman’s identity so she can infiltrate The Virgil in pursuit of her sister, who she abandoned 10 years prior after shooting their abusive father dead.

Let’s start with The Virgil. As mentioned, it’s a high-rise, and throughout the movie Reaves is working her way up and down it, fighting off satanic cult members. Take out the satanic cult members (who can regenerate, even after a decapitation) aspect and you’ve got both The Raid: Redemption and Dredd. Those two certainly spring to mind each time Reaves goes from one floor to the next, ultimately ending up in a final showdown. But, again, there are differences.

For instance, in those movies, there’s never a scene where Heather Graham’s eye pursues the protagonist, bounding itself off the walls of an airshaft so it can keep an eye on her. Furthermore, neither one of those films end with Academy Award-winning actor Patricia Arquette putting on the decapitated head of a pig that is currently serving as the temporary vessel of Satan.

On top of being a horror spin on those two cult classics, They Will Kill You is also reminiscent of the aforementioned Ready or Not and one other favorite (though it was a bit too successful to really be called a “cult” classic): Kill Bill. Let’s start with Ready or Not which, of course, has one woman going up against a group of cultists. But a thicker thread is actually drawn between this movie and Here I Come, considering both films focus on a woman confronting cultists to rescue her sister.

But, as a testament to both films’ quality, neither one feels as though it cannibalizes the other, even though they’re both playing in theaters at the same time. In fact, you could easily pull a double feature and not feel as though you’ve just sat through too much of the same thing.

As for Kill Bill, it all comes down to structure. For the most part, They Will Kill You plays out chronologically, but not always. Every now and then a stylish title card pops up, and we learn something new about one of the characters we’re following. It happens when we learn that Asia took the position of a maid scheduled to start work at The Virgil and it happens when we learn how her sister, Maria, got started at The Virgil. It’s also just flat out a movie with clear love for the exploitation pictures of the past, just like Kill Bill. Toss in the stylized action sequences and the fact that Asia expertly wields a blade, and you often feel as though you’re watching from the same universe as the Beatrix Kiddo saga.

Did you go see They Will Kill You on opening weekend? What did you think of it and did you get the vibes of any other movies while doing so? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!