Okay, I'm pretty sure that during the production of "Killers" director Mike Mendez and writer Dave Larsen heavily dreamed of becoming the next David Lynch... or maybe even the next Quentin Tarantino, but in order to achieve this, they should have put a little more thought in their extremely weird and dumb screenplay. Just what the hell is this supposed to be? A hard-boiled thriller, a demented black comedy or perhaps another social mockamentary pointing out to us how easily we glorify violence. The title priority refers to the notorious James brothers; two handsome but relentless maniacs sentenced to death for murdering their parents. They now escaped from their maximum-security cells and travel through California, until they take a middle-class family hostage in the quiet little town of Beatty. However, the Ryan family members aren't as defenseless as they seem. The women, Mrs. Ryan and her two teenage daughters, followed the James brothers' trial on television and developed a huge crush on their perpetrators. But that's still the least of their concerns, as the family also hides far crazier secrets. The sudden plot twist near the middle is extremely retarded, but at least it woke me up again! I already started dozing off since it looked like another pseudo-intellectual portrait about serial killers that seem to have all the knowledge in the world and yet use it to commit crimes. The dialogs are fluent, but they handle about everything you already heard before (in "Natural Born Killers") and some of the unexpected twists are really too crazy for words. There's plenty of violence but I still somehow expected "Killers" to be more grim and sadistic. It's mainly gunfire action and shouting, so I anticipated a little more physical violence, reminiscent to – for example – the torture scenes in "Reservoir Dogs". The plot holes and improbabilities are too numerous to mention, but the acting performances are decent and there's even some on screen sleaze to admire as well. "Killers" is not a total waste of time, but it's severely lacking personality and power to become a cult favorite.

What the hell did I just watch??? I stumbled across this Director today and liked the first film I saw of his (The Gravedancers) so much I had to look up his other movies. This one caught my eye and I'm so glad it did. I'm still reeling from that insanity but loved every moment of it. I read that he made this flick with a budget of under $100,000 and that 9 minutes of his movie were hacked off despite his objections. Yet even with those obstacles to it's success this movie still has lashings of charm and is well worth seeing.

I read a lot of reviews suggesting Mendez is trying to be Tarantino or Lynch - I disagree. He is just being Mendez. I can see from the two movies I watched that he has his very own distinct style - an insane style - but quite definitely all his own. Why do people think anyone who is "different" is trying to be those two over-rated directors anyway? I love Tarantino's flicks and SOME of Lynch's work but they are not the be all and end all of interesting directing. There are other more talented and off-the-wall directors around and it's a little sad that they are less widely known (except among the die-hard horror/thriller fans!!). One thing's for sure, Mendez has a much wackier sense of humor than either of those two, from what I've seen so far, and doesn't take himself anywhere near as seriously (thank goodness).

In a world flooded with bland horror movies & uninspired copy-cat directors, it's always a thrill to discover one who does his own thing, even if his style may not suit everyone. We should be supporting efforts like this - keeping in mind this was a debut effort on a teeny tiny budget - regardless of it's flaws. Yes the lighting has problems, the acting was suss, the dialogue a little clunky etc etc But there is much to be admired in this movie and Mendez has won a new fan today.

SEE IT!!! And watch it with no expectations and an open-mind (and try not to read any spoilers!!). You will love it. I've given it an 8 taking into account the low low budget, the unfortunate hacking of his finished movie and his newness as a director. I hope he gets to work with a big budget and quality actors one day.

PS I loved BOB!!!!

Nutty flick, but I sort of liked it--because of it's insane weirdness....Certainly parts don't make sense, and I found myself saying "What the hell?" Many, many times. The acting's all over the place, but I thought the two brothers were pretty good....I thought it was pretty slick looking, and I think Mike Mendez has some talent. Can't wait to see "The Convent." A little slow in spots, but too deranged to forget, I rated it a 5/10...very strange.....Check it if you're into offbeat stuff....