Killers (Blu-ray / DVD)
Scott Hallam
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Starring Kazuki Kitamura, Oka Antara, Rin Takanashi, Luna Maya, Ray Sahetapy, Epy Kusnandar, Ersya Aurelia, Tensui Sakai
Directed by Kimo Stamboel and Timo Tjahjanto (The Mo Brothers)
Distributed by Well Go USA
Every once in a while a film comes along that takes what has been done previously and adds its own spin onto the subject matter and comes away with a home run of a movie. Killers does just that. This is an uber-slick film that squares two killers against one another in a brutal and bloody love/hate relationship.
The first ever thriller collaboration between Japan and Indonesia, Killers begins by focusing on a maniacal psychopath named Nomura, who is based in Tokyo. We see him in action as he woos women, lures them to his home, tortures, and kills them, all while filming from several different angles. Then Nomura edits his footage and posts the completed video to a website for the world to see. Nomura’s highly-polished look and cool demeanor give him a strong Patrick Bateman vibe. Let’s call him Japanese Psycho.
Not long into the film, Nomura’s video postings are discovered by a journalist in Jakarta named Bayu, who is watching his life fall apart all around him. His career is in ruins, his wife (whom he’s still very much in love with) has taken his daughter and separated from him, and Bayu wants nothing more than to reunite with his family and return to a peaceful life. But of course, things don’t go his way. After a brutal attempted assault and robbery, Bayu has his own video to post to the website alongside Nomura’s, and the two are soon in contact. It’s then that their attraction/revulsion of each other begins to manifest. The two personalities begin to change, that which was hard becoming seemingly softer, and vice versa.
Filmmakers Kimo Stamboel and Timo Tjahjanto (The Mo Brothers) really scored here. Killers is such a fantastic effort because it takes something we love and enhances it. The movie takes the slasher sub-genre of horror and puts a wicked spin on it. So many cool elements are added in…the videotaping of the murders to post online, the need for approval, the mentoring/competition that goes on between Nomura and Bayu all make for something that feels very new and exciting. Killers accomplishes the none-too-easy task of taking something old and comfortable and making it feel fresh while still maintaining the elements we love.
And foremost amongst the beloved elements of a slasher movie retained in Killers is outstanding special F/X work. This movie is loaded with plenty of brutal, bloody moments. Nomura and Bayu are nothing if not efficient at extermination, but they’re not always super-clean during the act. Gore fans will certainly be satisfied with what they find in Killers. Not only bloody, but really brutal as well, Killers lives up to the name and the expectations that a movie with that title will generate. Fear not… you get your blood, baby! Plenty of it.
You also get a masked killer. In fact you get a pair of them. Driving the horror genre for years, masked killers have long been the mainstay of slashers. But you get more than that. You get two very different murderers: one a remorseless killing machine and one who tries to legitimize his behavior because of the nature of his victims.
The two actors taking on the roles of our killers are both outstanding. Kazuki Kitamura plays the Bateman-esque Nomura brilliantly. He’s a perfect predator. He is a shark preying on victims that are nearly helpless against his charms and experience at his craft. And Oka Antara as Bayu is the polar opposite. The Indonesian reporter (who looks like an Asian version of John Legend) is simply trying to do the right thing, but somehow murders keep happening. Add in a stellar performance of Robert, a scumbag lawyer, by Epy Kusnandar as well as a standout supporting cast, and you’ve got a knock-out of a movie. And just in case you were wondering just where you saw Bayu and Robert before, think back to the outstanding segment “Safe Haven” from V/H/S/2. Yep, the cult one. That little nightmare was co-written and co-directed by Timo Tjahjanto (of our Mo Brothers) and Gareth Huw Evans (who co-produced Killers). We’ve got ourselves a powerhouse of a team brewing here.
Unfortunately, the Blu-ray contains no special features aside from the trailer. It would have been nice to get a little deeper look at what went into making the film, but that’s a concession we’re willing to make.
Killers is great! The Japanese-Indonesian collaboration works wonderfully, and the two lead characters are magnetic. The story is intriguing; and the action, brutal violence, and intensity are all at a high level, culminating in a finale that will call Oldboy to mind. This is one to put on your must-watch list for sure!
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