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WΔZ

2007 film directed by Tom Shankland

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 2, 2026
Entity authorityQ2035143 ↗
Source-derived summary

WΔZ (pronounced double-u delta zed), is a 2007 British crime horror thriller film directed by Tom Shankland, written by Clive Bradley, and starring Stellan Skarsgård, Melissa George, Selma Blair, and Tom Hardy. The film was released in the United States with the title The Killing Gene.

Plot

A pair of detectives attempt to solve a series of grisly murders in a dark, rain soaked New York, in which each victim has the Price equation (wΔz = Cov (w,z) = βwzVz) carved into their chests.

Cast

Release and reception

The film received generally positive reviews. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 64% based on reviews from 14 critics.

CHUD.com wrote of the film, "Director Tom Shankland paints a grimy portrait that fits well with the Clive Bradley script. It is a great debut for both filmmakers who created a movie that works on almost every level."

DVD Talk wrote, "But let's not kid ourselves: This is a nasty horror thriller that has a Class of 1984 feel to it, although it has the most in common with the Saw series (even the line "Oh yes, there will be blood!" is morphed into "But there will be pain!").

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “WΔZ” as 2007 film directed by Tom Shankland. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA productive route into publication, performance and collection histories when the underlying object or edition remains clearly identified. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2007, 1984—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 2007-01-01. The account is most persuasive where film, directed and Shankland can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as 2007 film directed by Tom Shankland. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 2, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2035143. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2007 and 1984.

Critical limits

Rights, attribution and provenance may remain disputed even when a general reference summary presents a stable account. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “WΔZ”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow WΔZ primary sources, WΔZ archive and film research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “WΔZ”?
  2. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
  3. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “WΔZ” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.