THE KILLERS (1996)
Unrated Director's Cut Blu-ray
Label: Synapse Films
Region Code; Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 89 Minutes 3 Seconds
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1)
Director: Mike Mendez
Cast: Dave Larsen, David Gunn, C.T. Miller
Directed Mike Mendez (Big Ass Spider) the indie horror flick Killers (1996) was his debut feature film and in it sibling serial-killers the James Brothers, Odessa (Dave Larsen) and Kyle (David Gunn, The Convent), have beenconvicted of cold-bloodedly murdering their own parents on Christmas Eve and sentenced to death for their crimes. Now, they’ve escaped from death row and while on the run invade the home of the Ryans, who seem like an all-American family who ought to be pushovers for the natural born killers, but whose thinly veiled facade of normalcy hides a dark secret. The Ryans consist of father Charles (C.T. Miller aka Burk Morgan, Dark Passion), his wife Rea (Damian Hoffer), and daughters Jami (Nanette Bianchi, The Killer Eye), Jenny (Renee Cohen), and there are clues from the get-go in the introductory scenes that there's something a little off about them, which is later more fully revealed. The killers take the family hostage, tying Charles up with a string of Christmas lights, and things get weird right off the bat,. For starters, it doesn't take long for both Ryan's wife and daughter to become sexually aroused by the killers, not just turned on, but they both end of having sex with them! It turns out that Mr. Ryan is not only a Vietnam vet with a huge chip on his shoulder, but he and his entire family are serial-killer obsessed demented psycho-killers themselves who easily who turn the tables on the brothers who clearly have no idea what they'd walked into when they chose this particular house.
I've heard director Mike Mendez describe this as a glorified student film, and I would agree with that assessment, it has that film school wanna-be Tarantino-isms vibe about it, which are not terrible mind you, but it's also not executed all that well to be honest. The cast is young and inexperienced, the campy dialogue sounds slightly stilted as it comes out of their mouths, and there's a lot of arthouse/film school editing on display which at times looks cool and other times I found pretty distracting.
Audio/Video: Killers (1995) makes it's worldwide Blu-ray debut from Synapse Films in 1080p HD widescreen (1.78:1), representing the original unrated director's cut scanned and restored by Multicom Entertainment Group. The low-budget home invasion thriller looks good in 1080p HD, there are source limitations, grain is course and ever-present, especially during the darker scenes. Colors are generally quite pleasing, there's a lot of garish low-budget lighting throughout, and the source is in solid shape. Details and textures look terrific in the close-ups as well. Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 2.0 stereo with optional English subtitles. Dialogue is delivered well, there are no issues with hiss or distortion, music and the sounds of violence and gunfire are impactful.
Special Features:
- Original unrated director's cut scanned and restored by Multicom Entertainment Group
- Audio Commentary with director Mike Mendez and author/horror journalist Michael Gingold
- Original Promotional Trailer 1 (2.37)
What it has going for it is some cheap film school Tarantino-isms, pulpy dialogue, a bit of nudity and violence galore, and much like Mendez's next film The Convent (2000) this one opens with a cool scene set to a cool song, that of the brother's murdering their parents on Christmas Eve (that's right, this technically a Christmas horror flick!) with some flashy violent visuals set to Iron Butterfly’s psychedelic dirge “In-a-Gadda-Da-Vida”. Sure. The use of the song it's not quite as cool as whenMichael Mann used it in Manhunter but it's still pretty cool. This is obviously a dark, satirical dissection of America's obsession with serial killers but I felt that it was derailed by the frankly bizarre and far too out of left field twists, it's a pretty dang wacky flick when you get right down to it.
I like the idea of this film, there are elements I about that hit, and it's pretty stylish and visually interesting for a low-budget flick with minimal means, but at the end of the day it's amateurish and the story is nearly nonsensical with how nuts it gets, which detracts from the biting commentary about how we are obsessed with serial killers, and that the all-American family no longer exists, if it ever did. I probably wouldn't broadly recommend other than to someone who might be exploring the filmography of Mike Mendez and might be interested in checking out his directorial debut. It is an interesting curio in that he did better much with his next film The Convent (2000) and went on to make more interesting and polished films later on, but who didn't hit a homerun with his first film straight out of film school, but he kept at it, and that's fucking cool.
Audio/Video: Killers (1995) makes it's worldwide Blu-ray debut from Synapse Films in 1080p HD widescreen (1.78:1), representing the original unrated director's cut scanned and restored by Multicom Entertainment Group. The low-budget home invasion thriller looks good in 1080p HD, there are source limitations, grain is course and ever-present, especially during the darker scenes. Colors are generally quite pleasing, there's a lot of garish low-budget lighting throughout, and the source is in solid shape. Details and textures look terrific in the close-ups as well. Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 2.0 stereo with optional English subtitles. Dialogue is delivered well, there are no issues with hiss or distortion, music and the sounds of violence and gunfire are impactful.
Extras include Audio Commentary with director Mike Mendez and author/horror journalist Michael Gingold, the 3-min Original Promotional Trailer 1, the 3-min Original Promotional Trailer 2 Bloody Version; 4-min Alternate Ending.
The single-disc release arrives in a standard keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork. Inside there's a Synapse Films catalog and a Booklet with Liner Notes by critic/writer Heather Drain.
Special Features:
- Original unrated director's cut scanned and restored by Multicom Entertainment Group
- Audio Commentary with director Mike Mendez and author/horror journalist Michael Gingold
- Original Promotional Trailer 1 (2.37)
- Original Promotional Trailer 2 Bloody Version (2:37)
- Alternate Ending (3:48)
- Booklet with Liner Notes by critic/writer Heather Drain
- Booklet with Liner Notes by critic/writer Heather Drain
