Sensitive New Age Killer (2000)

There were three reasons I wanted to see Sensitive New Age Killer. Firstly, the John Woo/Ringo Lam-inspired shootouts that its trailer promised. Secondly, a wise man I once worked with said he did some script editing on SNAK. He isn’t credited and I don’t know the extent of what he did, but his role on SNAK wasn’t important to me. It was the lengthy lecture he once gave me. Advice that consequently changed my life for the better. He totally Mr Miyagi’ed my arse. For that alone I always associate this film with him. The third reason, I can’t remember, probably some other unrelated sentimental drivel.

 

SENSITIVE NEW AGE KILLER
Australia, 2000, Mark Savage

If you have read the Dead End Drive-In articles I have been writing for Mondo Exploito you probably have noticed my fascination for Australian action films. From Brian Trenchard-Smith’s forays in the genre, to Mark “Jacko” Jackson’s baffling buddy-cop outing. The unconventional leads, the action scenes set in surroundings I recognise, and the hilarious Aussie tough guys. I can’t get enough of them. Sensitive New Age Killer fits perfectly as a successor to these films.

Paul Moder stars as Paul Morris in Mark Savage’s unappreciated actioner. Moder plays a downtrodden, doe-eyed, Charger-driving hitman. Paul can’t stop botching up hit-jobs and his personal life is giving him the sads. He is happily married with a daughter, but Matty (Carolyn Bock), the cop he is sleeping with, complicates matters.

The movie begins with Paul as a child witnessing ‘The Snake’ (Frank Bren), a renowned hitman, murdering a prostitute-hating lowlife. Paul becomes mesmerised and wishes one day he will be just like ‘The Snake’.

Years later, Paul is the hitman he set out to be. Whilst adhering to the motto “Only kill guys that deserve it”. But it’s not exactly how he imagined it. His lovelife might be a mess but his friendship with George (Kevin Hopkins) is the bone of contention. You see George, Paul’s long-time partner, is buggering Paul’s life. George is also buggering Paul’s wife. As seen here, in one of Hopkins’ many bizarre/great SNAK moments.

In one insane scene George snorts his mother’s ashes while in tears, watching a tape of his dad commit suicide.

Almost from the outset, the audience is way ahead of Paul. We know that George is a backstabbing scumbag. Mark Savage and his co-writer David Richardson made the right choice to reveal this information early on and not as a twist in the finale. Right away, I felt empathy for Paul’s circumstances. It does help that Paul Moder injects a certain pathos into his role. Moder’s natural, likable presence contrasts nicely with the film’s bigger moments. Big moments like this entertaining piece of gunplay:

When Paul cocks up another hit, his employer Eva Drucker (played by Dawn Klingberg) sacks him. At one point Eva says to him, “You want to be like ‘The Snake’ but you act more like one of our retarded sons.” Fortunately, Paul’s cop mistress gives him a hot tip: a Thai criminal is in town and there is a $100,000 reward for his head. Unfortunately for Paul, ‘The Snake’ also wants the job. This is when Paul discovers the truth behind ‘The Snake’.

The film culminates in a John Woo-esque bullet ballet. This action sequence alone is worthy of seeing SNAK. It features some of the best/worst shooting in Australian cinema. Watch this amazing snippet, where Paul takes on Mark Savage’s brother Colin and you’ll see what I mean.

Similar to John Woo’s Hong Kong action films, particularly A Better Tomorrow, noir characteristics play a part in SNAK‘s story. The main characters in SNAK are trapped in holes they can’t dig themselves out of. Paul won’t stop cheating with Matty because he’s fearful she will arrest him for wacking a cop. Paul’s wife Helen (Helen Hopkins) won’t walk away from George’s sick sex games because she’s afraid George will expose their relationship. Even ‘The Snake’ has despairing issues of his own.

Savage successfully makes SNAK’s small-scale budget look bigger than it is. It helps when the lead, Paul Moder, doubles as a pyrotechnics expert. It is always a joy to see CGI-free explosions. David Richardson, the co-writer and the director of photography, followed SNAK with his Sergio Leone-influenced and brilliantly-titled film A Bullet in the Arse. I haven’t seen it but I now want to. (Moder also plays the lead in that too.)

SNAK had me at the first sighting of a Valiant Charger. ‘The Snake’ drives a gold one and later on Paul gets about Melbourne in a red one. My oldest brother drove Chargers, so whenever they pop up in Australian films I’m instantly won over. This is the clip I can’t wait to show my brother. It serves him right for making me so sentimental about a fucking car.

Mark Savage is best known for his shot-on-video nihilistic suburban nightmare, The Marauders. SNAK is probably Savage’s most accessible feature films. Though some of its broad comedic moments didn’t quite work for me, and the score is at times too comical, the film is a trainload of fun. I hope Mark Savage attempts another action-comedy sometime soon. This is kind of the film I wish Australia attempted more of.

Availability: Sensitive New Age Killer is available on the Savage Sinema From Down Under set. Not only does it contain SNAK, The Marauders and the gruesome, dialogue-free Defenceless: A Blood Symphony (2004), it includes a selection of depraved Super 8 shorts made by Mark and his brother Colin. You can also find SNAK by itself on DVD.