Don’t Kill It is a 2016 comedy horror film directed by Mike Mendez, starring Dolph Lundgren, Kristina Klebe, Tony Bentley, James Chalke, and Miles Doleac.  The story follows demon hunter Jebediah Woodley (Lundgren) who travels to Mississippi in the hopes of destroying an ancient, but homicidal demon.

Positives:

• Interesting premise
• Good amount of gore

Negatives:

• Terrible script
• Terrible direction
• Dolph Lundgren is terrible
• Forgettable characters
• Forgettable score
• Lackluster performances

Plot: The story follows demon hunter Jebediah Woodley who travels to a southern Mississippi town when a demon is accidentally released, which begins possessing and killing the townsfolk.  Jebediah, along with the help of FBI Agent Evelyn Pierce and Chief Dunham, attempts to track down and destroy the demon once and for all. There’s this subplot where Jebediah and Evelyn have this “romance” and it is forced beyond words. Evelyn’s backstory is interesting but not emphasized enough to make it remarkable.  The story is painfully predictable though it has its moments, and the ending is lackluster. (2 out of 5)

Characters: Jebediah Woodley (Lundgren) is literally one of the worst characters I’ve ever seen in a movie.  He’s a complete jackass trying to be tough but is actually pretty stupid.   Agent Evelyn Pierce (Klebe) and Chief Dunham (Bentley) is probably the only character in the film that could’ve been actually good had the film actually been taken a little more seriously.   Hated the preacher and almost every other character.  The demonic presence, for as cool as it was, was exceptionally bland and stupid.  It showed no personality, no motivation, just killing for the sake of killing.  There are literally no memorable characters. (2 out of 5)

Cast: The cast are terrible with forgettable performances.  Dolph Lundgren is absolutely terrible (no offense to the guy).  He plays the exact same role he always plays in his movies with no deviation.  Kristina Klebe does a better job (probably the best performance of the movie) but is literally given nothing to do. There is literally no chemistry between Lundgren and Klebe, there’s just not.  The supporting cast includes tony Bentley, James Chalke, Miles Doleac, Otis Willard, Michelle West, Todd Farmer, Dawn Ferry, Thomas Owen, and Billy Slaughter. (2 out of 5)

Visuals: The special effects are so-so.  True, in most instances the visuals work.  There is plenty of gore but it is used well.  The kills are decent.  However, there are moments where special effects are just silly. There is a scene where Jebediah and Evelyn are hunting the demon in the forest and every jump cut the moonlight changes position. (3 out of 5)

Score: The soundtrack is unbelievably unremarkable thanks to Sean and Juliette Beavan.  There is some music that’s in the film that doesn’t feel like it’s actually needed.  Some feel pretty generic.  (2 out of 5)

Writing: The writing in this film is shit with almost no redeeming qualities.  Literally one of the scenes is Jebediah walking into a meeting between the police and the FBI with no regard for anybody.  No reason for the cops or FBI to believe him without any proof.  Would’ve been better had they witnessed the supernatural first before believing him. I was praying that he got arrested and I got my wish.  Another problem with the script is that people tend to monologue and ramble too much.  The only thing that was pretty cool about the film is the explanation of the different demon possessions and how they work. Another scene is where Agent Evelyn Pierce first meets the demon and dammit the scene is poorly executed.  The woman literally shows no reaction to the demon in her face.  If this is a comedy it is…this shit isn’t a fucking comedy.  It’s absolute trash.  The church scene was cool but at the same time stupid as hell.  If this had been an actual town meeting addressing the murders when the demon attacks, this could’ve worked as proof that the demon exist.  The dialogue is exceptionally terrible.  The one point that the movie makes is that he is a demon hunter and that he’s slayed demons before, however, to kill this specific demon someone has to sacrifice themselves.  There’s no way to exercise this demon out? No way to isolate it? So how many people have died at this man’s mechanizations to kill demons.  Terrible, terrible, terrible writing on nearly every level.  Mike Mendez takes an interesting premise and just drives it into the ground. (1 out of 5)

The Verdict: In the end, Don’t Kill It is not only a shitty Dolph Lundgren movie but a shitty movie all together.  There’s literally no reason to watch this movie.  It has no redeeming qualities at all.  The direction crap, casting and performances crap, characters and story crap, and the writing is crap.  Don’t Kill It gets 2 out of 5.