[Director Andrew Douglas] is only partially successful at depicting its many twists and turns in convincing fashion. But it's compelling nonetheless, if only for the sheer bizarreness of the events depicted.

It's effective, in its way, and the acting is excellent, across the board. But "U Want Me 2 Kill Him" side-steps the real fascination with the story, its real guts, which is: Why?

Andrew Douglas, who directed the 2005 "The Amityville Horror" remake, mishandles the standard noir as straightforward drama and gives it an unfortunate after-school-special vibe.

Viewers may feel they have been intentionally misled. Well, they have.