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Released by: Anchor Bay Entertainment
Released on: July 3, 2012.
Director: Jack Perez
Cast: Kevin Corrigan, Karen Black, Barry Bostwick, Lucy Davis
Year: 2011
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The Movie:
Directed by Jack Perez, the same man who made Wild Things 2 and Mega Shark Vs. Giant Octopus, comes 2011's indy horror comedy drama, Some Guy Who Kills People. The film follows a loser named Ken Boyd (Kevin Corrigan) who lives at home with his mom, Ruth (Karen Black), who gets frequent visits from the town's sheriff, Walt Fuller (Barry Bostwick). He spends his days working at the local ice cream parlor with his only friend, Irv (Leo Fitzpatrick). We soon learn that it wasn't all that long ago that Kevin spent some time in a mental hospital. See, he was abducted and beaten by a gang of hoods at one point and this traumatized him to no end. Oddly enough, since getting out bodies have started dropping in the area and all signs point to Kevin as the culprit. If this weren't complicated enough for the poor guy, there's the not insignificant matter of a girl named Amy Wheeler (Ariel Gade) who has shown up at his house claiming to be his daughter. Is this going to complicate his relationship with pretty blonde Stephanie (Lucy Davis)? Yeah, it probably is.
Don't be put off by the 'quirky' title - Some Guy Who Kills People is a well made movie featuring some very good acting, particularly from Kevin Corrigan who really does a great job of letting us into his character's head and not slipping out of character. He brings a wide range of emotions to Ken, and he handles them all quite well be it understandable anger, hesitation, or even genuine sadness. His interactions with a fairly salty (and underused) Karen Black are great, but so too are his interactions with young Ariel Gade. There are a few moments in the film where things feel a bit stretched, primarily when you find yourself questioning if a girl of Amy's age would be acting the way she is in this movie, but those moments are few and far between and for the most part the script stays interesting and plausible. Barry Bostwick is also quite likeable as the aging sheriff out to stop the killer, and he handles the conflicting emotions that his character is forced to deal with towards the end quite well, just as he does the more humorous moments in the earlier parts of the film. Lucy Davis, best known for Spaced probably, is charming and cute and you can understand why Ken falls for her the way that he does despite his initial trepidation.
The cover art may make this one look like a run of the mill slasher chock full of blood and gore and while the film does have a few surprisingly splashy moments, the emphasis here is on character development and the tricky relationship that we know will soon develop between father and daughter. This lends itself more to comedy than to horror and the film isn't particularly scary but it is frequently quite funny and maybe more surprisingly, occasionally actually quite sweet. Not in the sickly way, but in a way that you can't help but notice regardless. The film is well polished, nicely made and it moves along at a fairly solid pace despite a few slow spots in the middle. Don't make the mistake of judging this one by it's cover…
Video/Audio/Extras:
Anchor Bay's 1.78.1 anamorphic widescreen transfer is fine, boasting nice colors and pretty good detail for a film made on the lower side of the budgetary spectrum. Some minor compression artifacts pop up in the darker scenes but otherwise things hold up well in the visuals department. The film was shot on digital video so there are obviously no print damage issues.
Likewise, the English language Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound mix is also pretty good, with some nice directional effects adding to the fun in a few key scenes. The score is spread out nicely and helps to emphasize the right moments while dialogue remains clean and clear.
The main extra is a commentary track with director Jack Perez and writer Ryan Levin who talk about the origins of the project, why various actors came on board and were cast the way they were, ideas that were bounced around during pre-production, influences on the film and more. It's a nicely paced track with a lot of information in it delivered by two men who obviously enjoyed working with one another. Additionally there's a behind the scenes featurette that includes input from producer John Landis as well as the principal cast and crew members and a fun short film from Perez entitled The Fifth which details the difficulties in finding that fifth man for your poker game when one of your regulars is a serial killer. A trailer for the feature is also included and standard menu screens and chapter selection are both included as well.
The Final Word:
A fun mix of quirky characters, a surprisingly heartfelt story, and slasher movie conventions Jack Perez's Some Guy Who Kills People benefits from a seriously good performance from Corrigan and a very cool supporting cast. The film hits a couple of stumbling blocks here and there but manages to get a lot right when it could have gone very wrong and Anchor Bay's DVD is a good one. This is one that could fly under a lot of peoples' radars but it's definitely worth checking out.
