Another watch that can be chalked up to those wild and wacky folks over at 'Red Letter Media' their recent coverage of this film piqued my interest, so I hopped over to Ebay (This is now long out of print) and snagged a copy while I could, mainly to see if it was as strange and wild as the guys made it out to be.
The plots...simple, but bizarre to say the least. The film follows a caring, but controlling husband called 'Tom' (played by 'Asbestos Felt'...Hell of a name)Who's currently under a lot of stress on the home front and is in the process of trying to take on a second job to support his newlywed wife Leeza (Courtney Lercara). The pressure slowly builds for Tom, who; at the same time, becomes obsessed with the idea that Leeza is cheating on him, sleeping with basically any man she happens to come into contact with. From the electrician who drops by to fix a few bits and pieces, to Toms lifelong older friend who's already happily married and makes literally no hints at being interested in Leeza at all.
Nevertheless, it all becomes too much for Tom who, upon finding a book hidden in Leezas possessions that lists seveal sorded affairs. Goes on a titula 'Killing Spree' resulting in guts and gore galore.
And this one kind of put me in a difficult spot because, on the one hand, for SOV as a subgenre; This things actually quite well made. We have a consistant 3 act structure, that only *somewhat* derails at the very VERY end of the film really, pacings a little slow burn, but for SOV manages to keep things ticking over to a steadily building crescendo. and the tone is that of a jet black horror/slasher-comedy.
However. with all of the above being said, as an actual film that people will sit through...it's kind of dull. The SOV genre runs a pretty wide gauntlet, with some films almost rivalling the studio offerings of the day...but for a LOT of features it was quite miraculous that they bothered to have the lens cap off for most of the runtime. Letalone anything GOOD being within eyeshot...and I say this as someone who has an appreciation for SOV cinema.
It's ultra lo-fi filmaking, which means that the bar for whats considered 'good' in the SOV genre is MUCH lower than what would be considered 'Good' in the wider film ecosystem. By SOV standards 'Killing spree' to me? is good! But by broader film standards? it has problems.
The films very repetitious and largely relies on two things to keep the audience on board, heavy gore. and Asbestos Felt as 'Tom'. Outside of that however, the scripts slow, plodding, we get the same beats (a guy turns up at Leezas place, they chat, Tom has a vision of them getting flirty, Tom goes and kills the guy. Rinse. Repeat) over and over again, almost all of the cast are under written, very basic and Asbestos basically upstages them at almost every turn.
The tone, while welcome, doesnt really do that much different when compared to other SOV flicks of this ilk. and the 3rd act finale comes TOTALLY out of left field with no implication that what happens WOULD even happen and felt a bit like the writer had put themselves in a corner and decided to 'Whimsy' his way out of a difficult situation.
The direction is viusually creative and DOES have a distinct style about it, it possesses an almost dreamlike wooziness, which I found quite appealing, and this combined with the performances is ultimately the thing that really pulls the film up from something forgettable, to something actually kind of worth checking out. Its a skeleton crew, but they manage to pull together the best aspects in order to deliver something thats unusual...but ultimately enjoyable.
Direction of the cast could best be summed up as 'Noone was given any kind of direction other than to read their lines and not to move. Asbestos ignored these instructions because Asbestos is an unstoppable force of nature'
The cine is coherent for the most part, but let down by the edit. Shots are blocked appropriately and offer a mixed range of compositional ability. With some shots looking absolutely dire. But some genuinely looking unsettling and unpleasent. Where it hits this film is genuinely a bizarre watch. But for the most part, it does come across a little generic. While I will compliment the pinky/red lighting gel choices used throughout. I felt like a little more coherency in their application would have probably really benefitted this thing.
It is however largely letdown by the edit, which has strange hard cuts, weird transitions in places, doesnt work with the narrative appropriately and is ultimately a quite big distraction hanging over this film. There are moments where the bad editing actually accidentally creates some moments of mad genius. But these are few and far between and dont leave enough of an impact to ultimately win me over.
As mentioned throughout this review, Asbestos Felt is really the only cast member worth talking about in terms of performances. He's nuts. He plays an overly aggressive, over the top, highly animated madman. Half the time im convinced his improvving his lines, half the time Im genuinely worried for the onsite cast and crew. He really throws his all into this giving a manic performance that dances the line between terrifying and hilarious. and I LOVED it for that.
And the soundtrack? It sounds like 'Things' (1989) for the most part, ultra cheap and cheesy 80s synth scoring, I dont think it suits the film personally. But its better than silence...
Ultimately; 'Killing Spree' is SOV's answer to 'Maniac'...I didnt much care for 'Maniac' and I ultimately wasnt 100% won over by this. But I could appreciate what it was trying to do, Asbestos Felt is a genuinely menacing presence throughout which did manage to hold my attention and the script and direction...while a little slow and generic, had just enough going on that I didnt regret watching this. If your getting into the SOV subgenre, this is as good a place to start as any...its not the best the genre has to offer...but it isnt the worst. Its just a fairly good example of 'slashers' on video.
source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/killing-spree/
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