The Killers Reviews

A strange, independent film shot on 16mm and based on a story by Bukowksi, a sort of disgusting Boswell of the underbelly of society. Harry (Kehoe) is a former insurance man who has dropped off the edge of society. One night, in an all-night cafe, he meets Bill (Mayo), a small-time robber who tells him about an easy score to be made on a mansion in Beverly Hills. They shake hands on the deal, and Harry begins his life of crime. They break into the house without difficulty, but the noise they make awakens the couple who live there, The husband (Magicovsky) comes to investigate and is overpowered by Bill who taunts him for a while and then murders him. Harry, his baser instincts rising, rapes the wife (Reed). Later Bill slits her throat. The two men leave, taking nothing, and Harry wonders why he doesn't feel anything. Shot in a minimal, low-key manner, the film is basically effective, thanks to excellent, disturbing performances by Kehoe and Mayo. Bukowski himself appears at the beginning of the film in a prologue.