BOUNTY KILLER is a Grindhouse version of Mad Max in a post-apocalyptic Wild West.  It is 2042, twenty years after the Corporate Wars have laid waste to the world.  The Council of Nine has set bounties on the corporate heads responsible for the destruction and Bounty Killers go after these white collar criminals.   Bounty Killers compete for fame and bounties.   Mary Death (Christian Pitre) is one of the top Bounty Killers and she is in constant competition with Drifter/ Francis Gorman (Matthew Marsden) who was once her lover (the same person who taught her all she knows).  She is a sexy and lethal gypsy killer dressed in a 1960s mod dress with white stockings.   She is on the hunt for Drifter when a bounty is set on his head and Drifter is out to find out why.   Drifter will have to face Gypsies who are on the hunt for one of their own named Nuri with Mary Death and the Second Sun Corporation on his tail.

 

BOUNTY KILLER is a really fun sci-fi action film which reminds me of the type of direct to video B movie/ cult classics I would find on VHS in the 1980s and 1990s.   The production design and costume design is very inspired with a fun script filled with plenty of action.   I know the film focuses on Drifter and to some extent Mary Death, but Christian Pitre steals every scene away from Matthew Marsden with her performance as Mary Death.   I wish the writers and director focused the tale more on Mary Death because she is a far more compelling character than Drifter who is a B movie substitute for the Man With No Name gunslinger type you would find in Spaghetti Westerns.   I found Drifter and his gun caddy Jack to be slightly amusing, but my interest really peaked whenever Mary Death came back on the screen.   I just feel Henry Saine and Jason Dodson bet on the wrong horse by spending more time with Drifter than Mary Death.   Matthew Marsden does hold his own as Drifter, but Christian Pitre shows why Drifter is so attracted to Mary Death.   It is like if someone did KILL BILL with the Bride as the second main character while having the story told partly through another main character.  I enjoyed BOUNTY KILLER, but I would have loved it more if it was more about Mary Death.  I hope a sequel will follow Mary Death more and I won’t miss Drifter if he doesn’t show up in it.

 

SPECIAL FEATURES:

15 minute Behind The Scenes featurette has interviews with cast and crew as they talk about casting, the characters, the origins of the film, and director Henry Saine.

 

Also included are the theatrical trailer and previews for other releases from Arc Entertainment (SWEETWATER, ON THE ROAD, and VEHICLE 19).   Too bad they couldn’t include the original 30 minute BOUNTY HUNTER short on the DVD and an audio commentary.

 

FINAL ANALYSIS:   BOUNTY KILLER is a fun sci-fi B movie that reminds me of the days when you would discover direct to video classics on VHS in the 1990s.  I hope they make a sequel that focuses front and center on Mary Death.

 

This DVD review is (c)12-26-2013 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission. Send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com

 

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