Scavenger Killers

SCAVENGER KILLERS

Writer:Ken Del Vecchio, Rachael Robbins

Director:Dylan Bank

Starring:Robert Bogue, Rachael Robbins, Dustin Diamond, Eric Roberts

Availability: DVD available at most retailers through Midnight Releasing

Rating:

    Well, my lovers of absurd cinema, have I got a treat for you!  Dylan Bank's Scavenger Killers is a gloriously insane ride that throws subtlety out the window, and instead wears its b-movie heart on its sleeve.  When I first read about this movie, I was unsure how it would sit with me.  In the wrong hands, material this ridiculous could end up on the wrong side of camp.  Instead, Bank, along with writers Ken Del Vecchio and Rachael Robbins, crafts a batshit dark comedy that had my jaw on the floor on more than one occasion.  The internet age has made it impossible to predict what will become the next cult classic, but in a perfect world, this movie would be on its way to being one.

    Robert Bogue gives a show-stopping performance as Judge Taylor Limone.  Along with his defense attorney lover Clara (co-writer Rachael Robbins, also quite good), the two set out on a maniacal killing spree.  On their trail are two very offbeat FBI agents.  One is a mute who gets off on belittling everyone he encounters.  The other is a psychic with Tourette's Syndrome.  These colorfully eccentric characters are part of what makes this film work.  Unfortunately, the victims in the movie aren't as interesting, but they have such a small amount of screen time, you won't really give a shit.

    Aside from a delightfully warped sense of humor, the other thing Scavenger Killers has in its favor are the kills.  This is a movie that's not afraid to get nasty, and each kill is refreshingly unique.  Now, the movie's not a wall to wall gorefest, but your appetite for bloodshed will definitely be satisfied.  It's also an incredibly sexy movie.  The sexual chemistry between Bogue and Robbins is through the roof, and there are some nice moments of T&A, even if it's mostly in scenes that are supposed to be pretty fucking far from being arousing.  You've also got some colorful cameos from the likes of Eric Roberts (always a b-movie delight), Robert Loggia, and Dustin Diamond.  Bank is a pretty workmanlike director, which is sort of disappointing.  I would have liked the film to have a bit more style, but he still does a solid job with the material.

    I'm not going to pretend like this is a movie that doesn't have some flaws.  One of the biggest problems is length.  I think the movie could have been trimmed by a good ten to twenty minutes.  It's certainly never a boring movie, but there are moments that hurt the pacing of the movie.  It's also definitely not a movie for everybody.  There's not a moment in this movie that doesn't strain for credibility.  It's a movie that exists solely to relish in its excesses.  It's over the top, gloriously insane, and if you take a film like this seriously, you need to have your head examined.  

    People are calling this a modern day Bonnie and Clyde.  Um, no.  Not even close.  Bonnie and Clyde may have been cold and calculated, but they were also madly in love, and there was an undeniable passion there.  The characters here don't have that passion.  These people are just evil people getting off on the killing of other evil people.  There are no deeper ideas here.  Bank and Del Vecchio have a follow-up, Captured Hearts, that sounds even more insane.  Needless to say, I am super stoked for that one.

    Until next time, my fellow freaks and weirdos...