Killer Barbys – Redemption Films (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Spain, 1996
Director: Jesús Franco
Writers: Jesús Franco, Patxi Irigoyen
Cast: Santiago Segura, Mariangela Giordano, Aldo Sambrell, Charlie S. Chaplin, Silvia Superstar, Carlos Subterfuge, Los Angeles Barea, Billy King, Pepa López, Alberto Martínez, Enrique López Lavigne, Javier Bonilla

Release Date: September 26th, 2017
Approximate Running Time: 90 Minutes 41 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVCC
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Stereo Spanish, DTS-HD Stereo English, DTS-HD Stereo French
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region A
Retail Price: $34.95

"A vanload of kids are stranded in a hilltop castle and become the unwitting victims of an immortal, sex-crazed countess (Mariangela Giordano) who retains her youth by feeding upon the blood of the young. Hardly the typical "Scooby-Doo" kids, these guests are members of the gore-punk band the Killer Barbies, who prove themselves quite well equipped to battle the horrors that confront them." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 3.5/5

Here’s the information provided about the transfer, "Newly restored from a 4K scan of the original film elements."

Killer Barbys comes on a 25 GB single layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 22.6 GB

Feature: 22.3 GB

Outside of some very minor print debris, the source looks great. Though the image looks soft, this appears to be the intended look of the film. Colors look very good, black levels fare well, and the grain remains intact.

Audio: 3.75/5 (DTS-HD Stereo Spanish), 3.5/5 (DTS-HD Stereo English)

This release comes with three audio options, a DTS-HD stereo mix in Spanish, a DTS-HD stereo mix in English, and a DTS-HD stereo mix in French. I only listened to the Spanish and English language tracks for this review, and they are both clean, clear, and balanced. Range-wise, both of these tracks handle ambient sounds well, and the score sounds robust. Included with this release are removable English subtitles for the Spanish language track.

Extras:

Extras for this release are limited to an audio commentary with film historian Troy Howarth.

Summary:

Killer Barbys can be seen as Jess Franco’s last hurrah before he ventured into shooting on video and abandoned shooting on film. That said, despite being given more resources than he has gotten in many years, Killer Barbys comes off as a Jess Franco film in name only.

Most of Jess Franco’s films have elements that have become hallmarks of his cinematic universe. A film like Killer Barbys is virtually devoid of elements that are synonymous with the cinema of Jess Franco.

Though Killer Barbys put Jess Franco back in the horror genre, and the setting and the look of Killer Barbys have a Gothic horror vibe. As a result, the film is overly campy at times, more akin to something one would expect from Troma than Jess Franco.

The main cast is composed of a punk band named The Killer Barbies (spelled Killer Barbys) for this film. Notable cast members include Mariangela Giordano (Burial Ground) in the role of a hundred-year old countess; and Aldo Sambrell (For a Few Dollars More) in the role of the countess’ loyal servant who gathers the blood she needs to become young again.

There is not much to the story at hand; the narrative is essentially a punk band called Killer Barbys getting stranded outside of a bloodthirsty countess castle, and from there, characters are knocked off one by one. Also, though Jess Franco’s films are known for their nudity, it is not as prominent in Killer Barbys, and being that this is a horror film, gore is minimal. Ultimately, Killer Barbys is a by-the-numbers horror film that even Jess Franco’s most diehard fans will find a chore to get through.

Killer Barbys gets a good release from Redemption Films that comes with a strong audio/video presentation and an informative audio commentary.

Written by Michael Den Boer