KILLERS and THE CONVENT: Who the Hell Is Mike Mendez?

KILLERS and THE CONVENT (Blu-ray)

FROM SYNAPSE FILMS

Review by Josey, the Sudden Cat🙀

Mike Mendez? The name doesn’t immediately ring a bell. Time for a bit of Google-fu…

Oh…he directed Big Ass Spider, a pretty damn funny “big bug” flick with a lowly exterminator as its hero. He also did Don’t Kill It, another horror flick with a healthy sense of humor. Over the years, it looks like Mendez has carved himself a nice little niche in the genre.

Synapse Films is now re-releasing two of Mike Mendez’ early efforts on Blu-ray. One isn’t entirely successful, but shows inklings of his talent, while the other demonstrates a real knack for combining horror and humor.

KILLERS

1996 / 96 min

The notorious, parent-killing brothers, Odessa and Kyle James, have escaped from prison, leaving a trail of bodies in their wake. Picking a random house in which to hide, they break into one owned by the Ryan family. As infamously ruthless as the brothers are, none of the Ryans appear all that intimidated. In fact, the mother and oldest daughter are kind-of turned-on by them. Outside, there’s a manhunt led by a detective who later professes her love for Odessa. The Ryan family, however, are keeping a lot of secrets in the house, which are revealed when they turn the tables on their captors. 

Killers is Mendez’ first feature film, which often reflects a director far more in love with how it looks than the actual story, playing sort of like Natural Born Killers if directed by Dario Argento. There’s plenty of hyper-editing, impressive camerawork, flashy gunplay and gratuitous sex. However, attempts at satire are heavy-handed and some story twists are superfluous. I also gotta say its main antagonist, Odessa (and his pseudo-hip nihilism) isn’t nearly as cool as Mendez thinks he is, not helped by a one-note performance from Dave Larsen. Still, patient viewers will be rewarded with a few twisted surprises and an amusing turn by C.T. Miller as the Ryans’ nutty patriarch.

EXTRA KIBBLES - Audio Commentary by director Mike Mendez & author Michael Gingold; Alternate Ending; Trailers.

"No recess until you hail Satan."

THE CONVENT

2000 / 80 min

Your standard issue batch of obnoxious college kids decide to party in an abandoned old convent with a notorious past: 40 years earlier, a disgruntled teenager named Christine came in with a shotgun, killing every nun and priest. Unfortunately for these kids, the urban legend that demons now haunt the place turns out to be true. Worse yet, when someone is bitten, they become one as well.

The Convent is almost unbearably awful for the first thirty minutes or so, mainly due to the stupidly-written group of kids. But this one is worth sticking with because, like flipping a switch, it turns into a gory good time. Clearly drawing inspiration from films like Evil Dead and Demons, this one actually a lot better than the latter. And with the introduction of a few hilariously inept satanists, there’s a welcome emphasis on comedy to go with the mayhem. This is all before Adrianne Barbeau comes along to steal the entire movie. She plays Christine as an adult, who reveals the real reason for killing everyone when she was young.

EXTRA KIBBLES - Making-of Featurette; 2 Audio Commentaries - 1) By Mike Mendez and cast; 2) By Saul and Dickie-Boy (the two goofy satanists); Video Tour of Killers and The Convent (featuring director Mike Mendez); Original Electronic Press Kit; Gore Outtakes; Deleted Scene; Still Gallery; Trailers; Reversible Cover.

After viewing both, I think Mike Mendez’ best work was ahead of him, especially Big Ass Spider (as well as his segment of the anthology, Satanic Hispanics). Still, it’s always interesting to look back and see where directors honed their craft. Of the two, The Convent best showcases how well Mendez serves up terror and violence with plenty of laughs.