Cop Killers — Cop Killers(Blu Ray)
From the late 70’s Cop Killers is a mean-spirited, scuzzy ‘n’ dusty, at times bloodily brutal crime thriller road movie. It focuses on two buddies trying to get a stash of cocaine to a dealer to get paid for it- along the way gunning down, belittling, and brutalising cops/ anyone else who gets in their way. Here from the MVD classic series is a Ray release- taking in a commentary track and interview.
Cop Killers is from the year 1977- it was shot in Arizona, moving from barren sun-beaten desert/ shrub lands, dusty backroads, motels, and hippy drug dens. It was directed by NYC-born Walter R. Cichy- this was his one and only director credit- though he had writer and production credits for the likes of Virgin Runaway ( 1970), The Daring French ( 1971), The Incredible Body Snatchers(1973), and The Hills Have Eyes (1977).
The one hour and thirty-two-minute film opens with our two leads getting a stash of cocaine from a desert flyby. We have the raggedly blond-haired and moustached Ray(Jason Willams) and the brown-flopped-haired, side-burned and sometimes shades-wearing Alex(Bill Osco). Soon after the pickup they get surrounded by a group of cops- the pair quickly gun them down- leaving them gurgling 'n' spurting red.
As the duo carry on their way journey to the drug dealer- they belittle/ bully an ice cream man, and gun down more cops/ gas station folk/ random people. Along the way, we get an attempted rape, general misogynistic nastiness, and the pairs straining relationship.
Cop Killers is very much a pros and cons movie- on the more negative side- the acting from our two leads has to be some of the worst I’ve seen-moving between deadpan looking like they are reading it off a script, to hamming it and OTT shouty. The film features a few rather instrumental light-rock/ country music cues- which often don’t fit the mood/ tone on screen.
On the positive side, the whole thing has an even rapid pace. The violence is bloody & brutal, the belittling/ intimidation is decidedly nasty, and at points, you do wonder if they’ll ever be stopped from their spree- with ragged blond-haired Ray leading the pair, as Alex is dragged along by all the dusty chaos.
The region-free Blu-Ray apparently features a new HD scan of the film- but as it was shot in a very cheap manner, it still doesn’t look great- though there is no real damage to the print. On the extra side, we get two things- a commentary track, and an interview. The commentary track is with actor Jason Williams moderated by Adam Trash- this features some interesting facts and reward discussion, though Trash is not the greatest moderator- as he often repeats questions. We find out Williams started off his career as a football player at college, with one of his first roles coming about because someone wanted a Buster Crabbe( two-time Olympic swimmer) look-a-like. We find out that the first title of the film to hand was Sweet, Mean, And Deadly- with its budget been fifty thousand dollars, and it was shot in fifteen days. We find out the film's director died two years after it was made in a car crash on a rainy Laurel Canyon day. He talks about how it was filmed on a positive super sixteen film, and the effects were done by celebrated FX artist Rick Barker(An American Werewolf in London, Videodrome) . The car in the film was hired by one of the fathers of rock band The Birds. They only had a crew of four on the film, and that fellow actor Osco was a bad boy/ no friend of his. And the film was first shown in Brownville Texas. Later on, they talk about the picture having both a one-armed and one-legged actor. Williams tells us how to if cocaine is real or not, and briefly talks about the film's house location. It’s certainly a track worth a play- though as I said Trash is not great.
We get a nearly sixteen minute on film interview with Williams- this is fine, though it does cover ground already discussed in the commentary track
Cop Killers is a cheap, not-so-cheerful low-budget crime thriller- shot through with a mean spirit and nastiness. If scuzzy and bloody exploitation is your thing, this will appeal- as long as you can get past the terrible acting and the few other issues here.