Now available from Synapse films.
Two brothers who killed their parents escape prison only to find themselves in a house worse than their own.
Written by Dave Larsen and Mike Mendez with Mendez directing, this film plays well with the young killers, house invasion, gun nuts tropes. It takes a subgenre and spins it on its head, making it a solid entry in each of the subgenres it touches and an entertaining, tense ride of a film. It is clearly an early career film for Mendez, but it does show a lot of talent and turns into a good film. Of course, it’s high level of violence makes it something that will not be for everyone, but it’s also part of what makes it work, the violence on violence on violence, with a touch of sex and odd choices. This is a film that heavily earns its stripes and would deserve a solid R-rating (in the US, or 16+ elsewhere) were it rated. This is the unrated director’s cut, so things that many not have made its television cut when it aired or its video cut when it was originally released may have found their way back in.
The cast here is limited mostly to the two killer brothers and the four members of the family whose home they invade. And a few others that won’t be spoiled here. Playing the brothers Odessa and Kyle James are Dave Larsen and David Gunn respectively, both of them giving good performances with Larsen being a bit more imposing in presence and personality. Playing the members of the Ryan family are Damian Hoffer, Nanette Bianchi, Renee Cohen, and Burke Morgan as the patriarch and giving a chilling performance here. His work steals a few scenes to say the least and he makes the most of the screen time he gets. The acting overall is good here, giving the lower budget film a boost in quality by talent alone.
Overall, Killers is a solid mid-1990s house invasion film with original ideas that had not been seen much at the time. It came out and was seen by horror fans thanks to coverage in genre mags and word of mouth as the internet wasn’t much for socializing at the time. It’s the kind of film that built a reputation for its violence (and bit of sex) that helped sell it to most horror fans. At the time, the film pushed boundaries which were not as often pushed back then. It was a different approach and one that fans of uber-violence appreciated.
This new release from Synapse Films looks solid on Blu-ray and sounds good as well. The extras here aren’t super numerous, but they are high quality. The best of the bunch being the audio commentary by Mike Mendez and Mike Gingold. The alternate ending being available on the disc is a nice extra touch, along with the new artwork and booklet.