Jennifer Pan lived with her mother, Bich Ha Pan, and her father, Huei Hann Pan, in Canada, she had one younger brother called Felix. The parents were political refugees who when in Canada worked hard to ensure their children had opportunities and the upbringings they did not. They set high goals for their children and expected great things from them. Jennifer took classes in piano and figure skating from a young age, when she tore a ligament in her knee her dream of becoming an Olympic figure skater ended. Jennifer was not allowed to date, attend school dances or parties. At the age of 22, Jennifer had never drunk alcohol, been to a friend’s house or been away from her parents for long. Despite the high expectations, Jennifer generally got average-to-low grades and forged her report cards to make her parents believe she was an A-grade student. When Jennifer failed calculus class in 12th grade her early admission to Ryerson University was rejected. Jennifer could not bear being seen as a failure and lied, telling her parents she was going to the University of Toronto to study pharmacology. When her parents thought she was at university, she sat in cafes and worked as a piano instructor and waitress to earn money. Jennifer purchased second-hand textbooks, watched videos about pharmacology and created notebooks full of alleged class notes to show her parents so that they would believe her. Jennifer also got permission from her parents to stay on campus with a friend, though she was actually staying with her boyfriend who she met in high school, Daniel Chi-Kwong Wong who was a marijuana dealer. While pretending to be studying Jennifer told her parents that she started working as a volunteer in a hospital, her parents became suspicious as she did not have an ID badge or any form of uniform and the details seemed vague. On one occasion Jennifer’s mother followed her to work and began to discover her lies. Jennifer’s parents realised she have been deceiving them and found out she had not completed high school due to failing calculus. Jennifer began to work to finish high school and was later encouraged to apply for university. She was forbidden to contact Wong or to go anywhere except for her piano teaching jobs and was ordered to move back into her parents’ home. Jennifer and Wong kept in contact in secret as Jennifer’s parents monitored her strictly and gave her little freedom. When Jennifer was 24, Wong had grown tired of being in a relationship with Jennifer due to her restrictive parents and only being able to meet in secret. Wong broke off the relationship with Jennifer and began dating another woman. When Jennifer learned of Wong’s new relationship she told him several men had gang-raped her and that this had been set up by Wong’s new girlfriend, she also claimed the girl had sent her a bullet in the post. In 2010, Jennifer offered an acquaintance money to kill her parents, he refused. Jennifer and Wong were back in contact and came up with a plan to hire a hitman, claim Jennifer’s $500,000 inheritance and move in together. They planned to pay $10,000 for the murder of both Jennifer’s parents. Wong gave Jennifer the contact details of Lenford Roy Crawford and a new sim card and iPhone to contact Crawford. Crawford contacted Eric Shawn “Sniper” Carty and David Mylvaganam to inform them of the job. On the night of 8th November 2010, Jennifer unlocked the front door of the family home when she went to bed and spoke to Mylvaganam on the phone. Mylvaganam and two other unidentified individuals then entered the home carrying guns. Carty later claimed he was the getaway driver. The men demanded all the money in the house be given to them and ransacked the main bedroom. Jennifer’s parents were taken to the basement and shot multiple times, her mother died instantly but her father somehow survived. Jennifer claimed she had been tired up but managed to break free. Police quickly became suspicious of Jennifer’s involvement at the time, she had not been assaulted, blindfolded, taken to the basement or shot and they questioned why the attackers would leave behind an eyewitness. Jennifer’s father’s record of the events also differed greatly from Jennifer’s version and she appeared nervous when questioned about details. She was arrested on 22 November 2010. During an interview, Jennifer admitted to hiring the killers but claimed she had hired them to kill her and not her parents. Jennifer, Wong, Mylvaganam, and Crawford were all convicted and each received a life sentence with no possibility of parole for 25 years for the murder of Bich Ha Pan and attempted murder of Huei Hann Pan. Jennifer was banned from ever contacting her family or Wong again. Carty pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit murder and was sentenced to 18 years in prison.
The Iceman is a film by Ariel Vromen. I have never heard of him before this, but he does a decent job creating a film with a lot of potential, but with a lack of direction on its story and its characters’ developments, which ultimately makes this film a lackluster portrayal of a ruthless killer.
Richard Kukliniski was dubbed the “Iceman” after his victims were found to be frozen in order to hide their time of death from the coroners. He rose from low level illegal pornographic distributor for the mafia to favored hitman for the New Jersey and New York crime families; over the span of his illustrious 30+ years as a contract killer he has claimed to have killed over 100 people. During that time span he also raised a family, of whom knew nothing of his troubled career. This film is based on a true story of an inherently evil being who has claimed to have no emotions towards the killings of others.
A lot of the problems in this film revolve around its own timespan. Because Kuklinski is a sociopath and exactly when he started killing are left to our own interpretation the film suffers, for it begins to develop a plot and then goes off track just as quickly. The focus becomes less and less about the psychological nature of what makes Kukliniski so fascinating and more about the betrayal that comes with the territory of being a criminal. There wasn’t enough method in the film to his killings, this was a big “no-no” for me considering a lot of these details are already readily available via the HBO’s documentary/interview with the real Richard Kukliniski.
However, The Iceman is enriched with excellent performances, from all of its actors as they are introduced into the film almost like the ghosts that inhabited Scrooge’s dreams in Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Each significant visitor being played out in short segments of pure brilliance. It is in these short moments do we get to see where the film shines for it is after each of these interactions do we as an audience get to see Kukliniski’s character lose his way, more and more.
Specific moments that stood out for this film were his interactions with his brother played by Stephen Dorff as he visits him in jail, as well as his interactions with his own wife played by Winona Ryder, and lastly his brief “divine intervention” with James Franco.
These actor’s performances really stood out for me for they are the driving force towards Kuklinski’s actions. His brother revealing that they are cold-blooded killers and unfit for society, his wife anchors what little humanity may or may not exist within Kuklinski, and lastly with James Franco’s character we realize Kuklinski is truly crazy for he questions God’s inability to stop himself from killing others, he even pauses his execution to give God an opportunity to stop him.
I am glad this was made, for Vromen is a talented director. He was able to make sense of a screenplay that should have otherwise been a movie that almost hit the 3 hour mark, but is abridged into just under 2hrs, presenting a lot of beautiful detail but failing to elaborate on a lot of it as they are short handed with cliche story telling to keep the film with a duration that can appeal to many. He just has to be careful on his next projects for I am sure this film will garner him attention in Hollywood.
Michael Shannon delivers a chilling performance as his burly disposition slowly turns from nihilism to pure evil. If this film wasn’t enough to prove his talent, I don’t know what will.
Character design for Pressure Drop, a Grosse Pointe Blank-inspired LARP about professional killers attending their 20th high school reunion I don’t think it comes as a surprise to anyone who follows my work that I had a lot of fun coming up with their wardrobe ✨
Cover for Pressure Drop, a wonderful Grosse Pointe Blank-inspired LARP about professional killers attending their 20th high school reunion And proof that I am willing to part with vibrant colour palettes!
