Overview: Once upon a time, the James Brothers, Odessa (Dave Larsen) and Kyle (David Gunn, VAMPIRE JOURNALS), murdered their parents in their own beds. Now they’ve escaped from Death Row and are on the run on a stormy night, looking for a place to hide out.

They invade the home of the Ryan’s, who seem like a typical American family and should be easy to control. But there’s something not quite right about this brood - the women seem more attracted than frightened by these notorious murderers in their house, and Dad (C.T. Miller) has secrets of his own.

Things get violently out of hand as the James boys find the night not going as they expected ... and there are even more surprises waiting in the basement!

The directorial debut of modern cult-favorite filmmaker Mike Mendez (BIG ASS SPIDER!, THE CONVENT), KILLERS is a highly stylized crime/horror hybrid that also puts a darkly satiric spin on America’s obsession with violent perpetrators.

After a brutal, hypnotic opening set to Iron Butterfly’s In-a-Gadda-Da-Vida, the script by lead actor Larsen and Mendez begins as a traditional hostage drama, before the twisted nature of the James brothers’ hosts starts to reveal itself.

It all leads to eruptions of gunfire and gore, and a shocking finale that was toned down in previous releases; now it can be seen in its full uncut glory in the Unrated Director’s Cut, available for the first time on disc in high-definition!

Blu-ray Verdict: Telling it like it is, this is quite easily one of the weirdest movies I have watched. It looks like a Lynchian nightmare but it’s even more bizarre! You never know its direction, you expect something to happen and something else happens eventually. So many twists and interesting turns that make you overlook movie’s flaws.

For example, at first, you dislike the acting here, it seems amateurish, but as the movie progresses, it lures you away. I mean, everything seems good, everything fits. Even the things that happened and don’t make sense, kinda make sense (or you just think they do because the director tricked you).

If someone considers it a bad movie, I don’t blame them, for maybe, just maybe they are right, BUT, if you are looking for a unique and original horror movie that turns into a comedy horror in the middle (intentionally or not), this is it. Do not take it seriously though, as I highly recommend it to those who loved the insanity of Natural Born Killers, or if you just want to try something different.

Dave Larsen as Odessa displayed some great acting abilities and reminded me of Mickey Rourke back in his hay day, not to mention he looked bad ass with skeleton face make-up and wielding a shotgun. The acting by C.T. Miller as Mr. Ryan and Nanette Bianchi as Jami entertained the hell out of me, and I loved every minute of it. This movie had me cracking up from beginning to end, and although not perfect, I was still quite surprised by all the crazy twists. In fact, I LOVED them!

Special Features:
Audio commentary with director Mike Mendez and horror scholar Michael Gingold
Original promotional trailers
Liner notes booklet by critic/writer Heather Drain
Alternate Ending
English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing

KILLERS (1996) | Official Trailer | 4K

www.synapsefilms.com