Retail Price: $14.98

Reviewed by:
Ian Miller on December 7, 2007.

Tom Russo (Asbestos Felt) is a wild-looking airplane mechanic who’s having a tough time making ends meet, as well as adjusting to married life with his sexy second wife Courtney. One night, his best friend Ben comes over for dinner, and Tom is disgusted to hear Ben mention that his new girlfriend has just turned 16 (Ben looks to be in his 50’s). After dealing with a visit from the nosy Mrs. Palmer (who steals an issue of Fangoria when he’s not looking), he discovers what he thinks is Ben making time with Courtney. In a rage, he throws Ben out and despite reassurances from his wife, has a disturbing dream in which she grows giant lips and engulfs Ben’s noggin in a lusty display. At work, things are not so hot either, and Tom’s pal Stewmaster informs him that he’s receiving a pay cut. However, the worst is yet to come: once returning home, Tom discovers Courtney’s diary, where she details a tryst with Ben! “That’s the last straw for this crazy man” thinks Tom, and after reading more and more “Dear Diaries” where hot pants Court reveals get-togethers with the TV repairman, electrician, UPS guy and the lawn boy, he loses it and goes on the titular spree, using increasing crazy and outlandish (yet fitting to each character) means, such as a severed head, ceiling fan, chainsaw, TV tube, screwdriver, clawhammer, you name it. While he certainly gains bloody satisfaction from all of this killing action, what if it’s all a misunderstanding? 

In the already-marginalized world of low budget horror films, it is generally considered that it doesn’t come much lower than the direct-to-video glut of titles that flooded the shelves of mom’n’pop video stores of the late 80’s-early 90’s. Titles like BLOOD CULT, SLEDGEHAMMER, LUNCH MEAT, and CANNIBAL CAMPOUT bring a weird mixture of nostalgia and dread to those that either sat through them, or just saw the garish (read: eye-catching) boxes that stared out at them, visit after visit. At the forefront of this genre was a teenaged gorehound named Tim Ritter, who through some interesting circumstances managed to secure financing for a shot-on-16mm film entitled TRUTH OR DARE: A CRITICAL MADNESS, the success of which led to the film under discussion here.  

Make no mistake: KILLING SPREE is a bit of a mess, the acting is fairly wooden (though Felt is fun to watch as Tom), the writing perfunctory at best, and while the lighting and camera work is inventive (a strong CREEPSHOW influence pervades, to invoke Tom’s ensuing madness), some bad choices are made that lessen the impact of some of the shock scenes (one killing is bathed in red lighting, effectively neutering the whole thing). Speaking of gore, once the film kicks in, there is plenty (courtesy of Joel Harlow, who went on immediately to TOXIC AVENGER pts. 2 & 3, a well as many other bigger-budgeted films), with a certain clawhammer killing taking top honors for gross-out audacity, but I digress: while KILLING SPREE has a long way to go to even come close to measuring up to the films it strives to resemble (even those of Herschell Gordon Lewis, to whom it is dedicated), it’s hard to imagine any other 18 year old kid in 1987 doing much better.

“The AWESOME 80’s are back!” say Camp Motion Pictures (and Alternative Cinema), and to prove it they bring you another entry in the growing “Retro 80s Horror Collection” series, form back in the day when every week brought out a glut of new direct-to-video indie splatter pics. While KILLING SPREE may not come very close to being the best the horror genre has to offer, it will liven up just about any gore-freak party, based on lead psycho Asbestos Felt’s performance and some splashy, nasty f/x.

Asbestos Felt, Courtney Lercara, Raymond Carbone, Bruce Paquette, Joel D. Wyncoop