Ed Kemper — Ed Kemper( Blu Ray)

Here’s a 2025 feature-length attempt at telling the story of 1970s  towering 6-foot-9 Californian serial killer Edmund Kemper, aka the Co-ed Killer, whose crimes involved decapitation, dismemberment, and necrophilia. The film is somewhat a hit & miss affair- on the positive side, the cast largely works and there are effective moments of shock/ unease. On the less positive side, it has a mixed tonal quality, some cheap period detail, and some decidedly uneven/ ropy editing. Here from Epic Pictures is a Blu-ray release of the film, with a commentary track and a few other extras.

Ed Kemper was directed/co-written by Edina, Minnesota-born Chad Ferrin. He’s been active since the early 2000s, having twenty-three credits to his name- seventeen of these were features. These take in the likes of ultra-low-budget zombie film The Ghouls (2003), gang-based action film Attack In LA (2018), atmospheric &  surreal horror H. P. Lovecraft's the Old Ones(2024), and serial killer granny thriller Dorothea (2025).

The just over one and a half hour film opens with a monochrome flashback to the 60s, where we see a teenage Ed, first stabbing his grandmother, then shooting his grandfather, before ringing up his mother to tell her what he’s done. We then whizz forward to the 70s. Ed is now grown-up, we see him being led out of a facility, and it’s clear he’s just been released after some years away in a mental health hospital. The last thing his grey-haired psychiatrist says to him is, ‘Make sure you stay clear of your mother, and you’ll be fine’

And guess what, in the next scene we see him knocking on his mother's door- returning to live with her. And here we get to meet our two leads- Brandon Kirk plays Ed, who, when we first meet him, doesn’t have the killer's distinctive moustache- though this comes later. When Kirk first appeared on screen, I was looking to see if he was tall enough for the real killer; he’s not quite, but near. His acting on the whole is not bad, with him showing the split sides of the killer-moving from amicable, chatty, and laidback. To raging, demented, and sexually twisted.  Playing his mother, Maude, we have Cassandra Gava, and aside from her slightly dodgy looking short wig- she's not bad too- as the constantly berating, belittling, beer drinking & bisexual mother.

The film largely switches between the pair's interactions, which at points come off almost darkly comical- like a more twisted Odd Couple-like sitcom. And his interactions with his victims- these move from kidnapping/ shootings, though to the hacking up/ sleeping with parts of his victims.

The effects side of things are fine- sure, some look a little ropy or badly digital, but largely they're ok. With some quite effectively shocking/ brutally intense  moments appearing along the film's length

As mentioned in my introduction, the film is somewhat hit & miss/ uneven- with the decent enough acting mixing in with some cheap looking period detail, and tonal unevenness- which at times seems to glamorise what the killer is doing, instead of making it shocking/abhorrent. So, with that in mind, I’d say Ed Kemper is a middling example of the serial killer film form- it could have been better, but equally it could have been a hell of a lot worse!.

 

Moving onto this region-free Blu-ray disc, and get a fair selection of new extras. First off is a commentary track featuring one of the film's co-writers, Steve Johnston, and lead actor Brandon Kirk – this is a bit of an odd track, as it seems to feature Johnston as the main contributor, with Kirk dropping in when he’s quite- and it’s clear these weren’t recoreded at the same time, so it gives the whole thing somewhat of a jarring feel. Anyway, Johnston starts talking about how Kemper was both a brutal killer and brutally honest/ open after his arrest. The pre-credits are touched on, and apparently, these were originally shot in colour. There is talk about how Kirk gives empathy to his role, and how the story is distinctive within serial killer films due to the relationship between Ed and his mother.  They comment on key plot points and how it’s all largely true, and mention Richard Band's score creates moments of great tension. They touch on the suggested lesbian relationship Ed’s mother was engaged in, and how he was obsessed with John Wayne.  Later on, they point out some of the supporting actors who played victims. They talk about how they wanted this to be a horror film first & foremost, and not a police procedural that many serial killer films are. It’s an ok one-play track.

Otherwise, on the extras side, we have the following:  Cast auditions( 6.58). Deleted scenes( 35.26). Kemper 70’s passage( 26.10). Mat Olivo score( 5.03), music video, and a trailer.

If you’re a fan of the serial killer film form, Ed Kemper is most certainly worth a look. Sure, there are a few issues here, but it has two good leads( dodgy wigs aside), with rewarding moments of tense unease/violence, and touches of dark comedy.