Kill Crazy - Dark Force Entertainment (Blu-ray)

Release Date: USA, 1989
Director: David Heavener
Writer: David Heavener
Cast: David Heavener, Rachelle Carson-Begley, Steve DeVorkin, Danielle Brisebois, Bruce Glover, James Emery, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, Burt Ward, Gary Owens, Deke Anderson

Release Date: July 14th, 2026
Approximate Running Time: 94 minutes 19 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVCC
Rating: R
Sound: DTS-HD Stereo English
Subtitles: N/A
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $19.95

"A group of Vietnam veterans, still struggling with the psychological scars of war, are released from a mental institution and sent into the wilderness on a supervised camping retreat meant to help them readjust to civilian life. But the outing turns into a nightmare when a rogue paramilitary faction targets the group, hunting the unarmed veterans for sport in a twisted survival exercise. As the men are picked off one by one, a single survivor--hardened by both combat and trauma--draws on his training to fight back. Turning prey into predator, he wages a brutal counterattack against his pursuers in a desperate bid for survival and justice.." — synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4/5

Kill Crazy comes on a 25 GB single layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 23.1 GB

Feature: 20 GB

While there are a few very minor specs of debris, the source mostly looks excellent. Flesh tones and colors look correct, image clarity and black levels are strong, and there are no issues with compression or digital noise reduction.

Audio: 4/5

This release comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD stereo mix in English. The audio sounds clean, clear, and balanced, and ambient sounds are well-represented.

Extras:

Extras for this release include an interview with actor/screenwriter/director David Heavener (24 minutes 44 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles).

Summary:

David Heavener writes, directs, stars, and sings a few songs in Kill Crazy. He’s a do-it-yourself filmmaker whose career has spanned five decades and he has 30 directing credits.

Five Vietnam vets on leave for a weekend camping trip from a mental hospital find themselves in a deadly game of survival.

The 1980s saw an influx of films revolving around Vietnam veterans, notably First Blood and the Missing in Action films. While Kill Crazy has some of the elements that those films had, it lacks their depth and often comes off as too cartoonish. Kill Crazy’s other key influence is author, screenwriter, and journalist Richard Connell's The Most Dangerous Game, originally published as The Hounds of Zaroff.

Kill Crazy’s opening setup does not provide any indications of where things will venture to. Its goofy tone and cheesy dialogue make it feel like a comedy and not an action film where characters are fighting for their lives. While there is a slight tonal shift once it becomes clear what is in store for Vietnam vets, there is still too much oddball humor. Something positive about the narrative is that it always keeps you guessing.

While it is clear that the star of the film is David Heavener, he does round out the cast with recognizable faces like Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs (Welcome Back, Kotter) and Burt Ward (Batman TV series), who portray Vietnam vets mentally scarred from the war. The most notable cast member is Bruce Glover (Diamonds Are Forever) in the role of Mallard, the leader of an anti-government militia group. He delivers a sinister over-the-top performance that overshadows the rest of the cast's by-the-numbers performances.

No matter what its shortcomings are, Kill Crazy makes it clear that it is a bombastic action film with some exploitation elements thrown in for good measure. The most obvious example of an exploitation cinema staple is like a scene where two female characters bath naked in a lake. Ultimately, Kill Crazy is a film that you either embrace for its absurdity or quickly tune out.

Dark Force Entertainment gives Kill Crazy a strong audio/video presentation, and there is an illuminating interview with David Heavener.

Written by Michael Den Boer