THE KILLING BOX (1993)
aka Grey Knight
aka Ghost Brigade
aka The Lost Brigade
Label: Scorpion Releasing
Region Code: A
Rating: R
Duration: 82 Minutes 7 Seconds
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1)
Director: George Hickenlooper
Cast: Adrian Pasdar, Corbin Bernsen, Ray Wise, Martin Sheen, Matt LeBlanc, David Arquette, Billy Bob Thornton
In the The Killing Box (1993) Civil War Union soldier Capt. John Harling (Adrian Pasdar, Near Dark) has served his time and is set to return to civilian life, but at the last minute his release is pushed back by Gen. Haworth (Martin Sheen, Apocalypse Now) and Col. George Thalman (Ray Wise, Twin Peaks) who recruit him to investigate a series of bizarre massacres that involve both Union and Confederate soldiers being crucified by a renegade band of Union/Confederate
soldiers. He enlists the help of his former mentor (Corbin Bernsen, Tales from the Hood), a confederate Col. Nehemiah Strayn whose was the sole survivor of regiment slaughtered in a "killing box" maneuver by Union soldiers.
With Col. Thalman leading the way Harlan and Strayn set out with a small detachment of troops, as well as a mute slave named Rebecca (Cynda Williams, Mo' Betta Blues), who is the sole survivor of an attack by the mysterious renegade troupe. What they discover is that they're not dealing with an ordinary band of bloodthirsty renegade soldiers, that these are bloodsucking undead vampires, lead by Strayn's former second-in-command Maj. Josiah Elkins (Roger WIlson, Porky's, Porky's II: The Next Day), who was seemingly massacred at the battle Strayn survived. We get a bit of backstory thanks to some voodoo-visions from the mute Rebecca that tell of how slave traders inadvertently awakened and brought over some sort of evil entity from Africa, and how that evil was subdued by slaves and imprisoned in a cave here in the U.S., but it has now re-emerged, unwittingly released by soldiers during battle, free to inhabit the corpses of Strayn's former regiment. The undead are now amassing an army of the bloodsuckers without the usual fangs, but they feed on human blood, fearing the daylight, fire, sunlight and are deadly-adverse to silver.
In the face of a shared enemy the confederate and union soldiers put aside their differences and team-up to face this undead evil; melting down pilfered silver war spoils to forge silver bullets and silver-plate their rifle bayonets, leading up to a pretty solid action-packed finale. Despite the TV movie-of-the-week production values the flick has a fantastic premise and some solid battle sequences with canon fire, rifle carnage, and some bloody bayonet savagery, with effects done by KNB FX. It's not perfection by any means but it's entertaining enough just based on the concept alone. The flick also features narration courtesy of Pasdar's character that looks to be shamelessly emulating Sheen's turn in Apocalypse Now, it's not great, but it does fill in some of the shortcomings in the storytelling, as do the mind-meld flashbacks of the mute Rebecca that inform of us how the evil made it's way from Africa to the Southern U.S.. The evil entity is never seen in it;s true form, which adds that Lovecraftian unknowable, unnamable vibe to it, which is both a shortcoming as well as a blessing in disguise based on the the budget, who knows what we would have gotten, sometimes less is more.
There's a lot of talent both behind and in front of the camera here, we have documentarian filmmaker George Hickenlooper (Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse) directing his first non-doc, Monte Hellman (Two-Lane Blacktop) editing the film, a script by Matt Greenberg (Mimic, Reign of Fire, Halloween: H20, 1408), and aside from having Sheen, Bernsen, Ray Wise and
Adrian Pasdar in the top-billed roles we also get smaller roles for then up and coming talent like Matt LeBlanc (TV's Friends), David Arquette (Trippin'), and Billy Bob Thornton (A Simple Plan). I think the basic premise is actually quite excellent, but that idea is underserved by what looks to be an anemic budget that cannot execute that idea to it's fullest potential, but it's still an interesting idea and serviceable watch, it's just not great. It feels like a TV production, it's not very cinematic, and while I think this was meant for a theatrical release somewhere along the line I think this ended up going straight-to-cable TV prior to home video, and it feels like it. That's not to say I didn't like it, there's enough here to keep me interested, the whole Western/Civil War era horror tale sub-genre is underserved, though we get a few gems like Ravenous, The Burrowers, Bone Tomahawk, The Wind and Deadbirds. I would love to see this story done with a bit more budget and depth to the characters. I'm not too familiar with the history of production of it, but I do know there are at least two versions of the film, this being the Producer's Cut, and there is a Director's cut of the film that appeared on DVD a few years back, which I have not seen, so I'm not sure of the differences between the two.
Audio/Video: The Killing Box (1993) Blu-ray from Scorpion Releasing in 1080p HD widescreen (1.78:1). It looks a bit on the soft side, it's actually shot with a soft-focus look to it that takes the edge of the sharpness, but grain is present and colors are modestly pleasing. Depth and clarity are not it's strongest attributes, but there is some appreciable fine detail evident in the close-ups. Not sure what the source is here but there are some minor blemishes, but it's nothing too distracting. Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 2.0 with optional English subtitles, it's a solid track but it's going to rock your world or anything, but it's clean and dialogue, moments of action, and the score sound fine.
No real extras for this one, just a selection of Scorpion Releasing Trailer for The Killing Box (2:10), Cold Heaven (1:22), Night Visitor (1:50), Last Rites (1:39), 3:15 (2:29), The Greek Tycoon (2:20), King of the Mountain (2:24). The single-disc release arrives in a standard keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork, which I dig, it captures the atmosphere of the film quite nicely.
Special Features:
- New 2020 HD Master
- Trailers: The Killing Box (2:10), Cold Heaven (1:22), Night Visitor (1:50), Last Rites (1:39), 3:15 (2:29), The Greek Tycoon (2:20), King of the Mountain (2:24),
Screenshots from the Scorpion Releasing Blu-ray:
