Note: This movie is being released on Blu-ray by Olive Films (www.olivefilms.com – www.facebook.com/olivefilms) on Sept. 13th.
Olive Films and Slasher Video have teamed up to bring back another low-budget (almost no budget, frankly), big-haired action spectacle from bad movie maverick David A. Prior. You might remember this filmmaker as the man behind the 80s cheese-fests Deadly Prey and Killer Workout (also available from Olive Films). Mankillers was made the same very prolific year for the filmmaker. And it’s every bit as mind-boggling as his other titles.
The very thin plot revolves around ex-CIA agent Rachael McKenna (Lynda Aldon). She’s sore over an absurdly ugly and violent split with crooked agent/ex-lover John Mickland (William Zipp). Essentially, he leaves McKenna for dead to run a criminal “operation” in Columbia. When she’s asked to return to the CIA to take down Mickland, she decides to train an army of hardened female convicts to stop his… well… unclear plans (it may have something to do with trading women for cocaine, but it’s not clearly elaborated on).
B-movie silliness ensues as the motley crew get over some personality conflicts and train for the mission. Apparently, all that is required to turn them into a unit of super soldiers is a lot of jumping jacks and tire drills. It’s also funny that their gun range looks suspiciously like Mickland’s compound. As they travel south to Columbia (which bears more resemblance to California than South America), goofiness ensues as the high-heeled soldiers get into machine guns battles with cartel troops. Don’t worry, though – despite all of the harsh conditions, based on the styled locks it appears that the ladies haven’t forgotten their hair care products. The poofy hair and fashions on display are hilarious.
It’s a pretty terrible movie to be sure, but at least it’s so unrealistic that it feels light in tone, with less nastiness present than some of the director’s previous works. There are a couple of ugly moments, but overall it’s simply ridiculous. The flick also benefits unintentionally from awkward performances and strange line delivery, as well as a screenplay that reduces much of interplay between the heroine and villain to the level of schoolyard insults. Mickand’s threat, “You’re gonna die!” is followed with a clumsy reply of, “No, you are!” This is just a sample of the back and forth between the two leads.
The image is sourced from BETA master, meaning that you shouldn’t expect too much from the transfer. This movie was created for the straight-to-VHS market and was likely finished on tape. So, this is as good as it’s ever going to look. At least you’ll feel like you’ve stepped back in time and are watching the movie on a VCR. There are even a couple of very minor drop outs on screen; just go with it and let the experience add to the atmosphere. As for extras, there aren’t a lot, but there is a photo gallery. There’s also a trailer, although it feels more like an extended clip reel than an actual promo. It’s still appreciated, though.
Bad movie aficionados and those familiar with the work of David A. Prior will definitely want to pick up Mankillers. It’s undeniably dopey and provides plenty of howlers from the cast. Viewers will definitely get a few chuckles from this title and can make a triple feature out of the movie along with Deadly Prey and Killer Workout. One can only hope that more titles from the director are on the way – I’d love to see someone pick up the rights to Raw Justice (1994) and give that one a Blu-ray release. In the meantime, this title provides some fun, bad movie fodder.