Kill Or Be Killed (1993)

 Kill Or Be Killed (1993)- * *

Directed by: Joe Straw

Starring: David Heavener, Joe Nuzzolo, and Lyn Levand

Michael and Charlie Julian (Nuzzolo and Heavener, respectively) are drug-dealing brothers who want to move up in the cocaine trade. When their latest deal is foiled by a police raid, Michael takes the rap and goes to jail for eight years. When he gets out, Charlie now has slicked-back hair, wears a suit, and is still a gangster baddie but is more "corporate" about it. A woman named Beth (Levand) is torn between the two men. During their latest drug deal, with a Korean gang called The Kim Brothers, a briefcase of money and coke goes missing. Charlie is understandably upset, which then paves the way for the final showdown. Who will KILL and who will BE KILLED?


As we all know, AIP stands for "Action International Pictures" - and while there is some gun shootin' in Kill or Be Killed (which is not to be confused with the 1976 film of the same name), it's really more of what you'd call a gangster drama. Our guess is that David Heavener probably liked working on this film because he gets to stretch his acting chops. But does the viewer really care?


It's no Prime Target (1991) or Fugitive X: Innocent Target (1996), or any other Heavener outing that has the word "Target" in the title. The more serious tone doesn't even allow for any of Heavener's patented country-fried musical numbers. It's hard to know what films KOBK was influenced by or what this was actually trying to BE. Most video store patrons who take home a VHS tape called Kill or Be Killed, which features a picture of Heavener with a gun, flanked by scantily-clad women encased in bullets (none of which are in the film, of course) are not going to be completely pleased with a slow-moving drama that sure as heck isn't going to give David Mamet any sleepless nights.


Except for the scenes when Heavener is clad only in a Speedo, everyone in this film only wears suits and ties, making it the original Suits. Or perhaps the AIP Glengarry Glen Ross. There are many, many scenes in offices and boardrooms. Or maybe it's only just one. It's tough to tell.

The film OPENS with a love montage, which is quite unusual. We'll give KOBK some points for originality there. Beth has fantastic hair, which can't be described but can only be seen. Michael looks like Mark Dacascos, the main police officer on the case looks like Jeff Goldblum, and other characters look like other people. An actor named Royce Dudley plays Jesse, and he is really the standout here. He really gives it his all. He should have done more, both in this film and elsewhere.



KOBK was directed by one Joe Straw, which sounds like a fake name. We wondered if he was a sort of cipher, or an American Eagle-esque "straw man". But no, he appears to be a real person. His main job in Hollywood was Production Accountant on many films. This and a film called The Intruder from the same year (1993) are his only directorial credits to date. Maybe because he was an accountant, that explains why there are so many boardroom scenes with suited men.



It does have that "AIP Vibe" so if you enjoy that, it is plentiful here. KOBK will most likely be too low budget and slow for most audiences. We've seen far, far worse, but simply an acting showcase for all involved lacks the hooks needed to pull in an audience, not to mention keep them there over time. That's why Kill or Be Killed will likely remain on the forgotten video store shelf of history. There are worse fates for your movie, for sure, but this status appears to be permanent.


Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Kill Or Be Killed (1976)

 Kill Or Be Killed (1976)- * *

Directed by: Ivan Hall

Starring: James Ryan, Norman Coombes, Danie DuPlessis, Charlotte Michelle, and Raymond Ho-Tong

Baron von Rudloff (Coombes) is a delusional Nazi with a midget assistant (DuPlessis). Rudloff still has World War II flashbacks. He lives in a giant compound - as any villain worth their salt is wont to do - in South Africa. Steve Hunt (Ryan) is a heroic Martial Artist that is kidnapped by Rudloff, along with many other fighters, including Olga (Michelle). Rudloff wants to train them into being the ultimate fighting force so they can beat the team assembled by his arch-rival Miyagi (Ho-Tong). Evidently this sort of tournament happened before between the two men, but Rudloff wants a rematch because he thinks Miyagi cheated by bribing people with diamonds. So, seeing as they can't escape, it's KILL OR BE KILLED for Steve and Olga. Or will they have a few tricks up their sleeves?


Out of the two James Ryan 'Kill' movies - those being the movie under review today and the sequel Kill and Kill Again - we prefer the sequel to this initial offering. The sequel, while overlong, is more colorful and has significantly more going on. 

Kill or Be Killed has almost no plot and thus it has some pretty serious pacing issues. Most of the final third of the film is one tournament-style Karate fight after another. Much of what comes before that are a series of Karate fights, laced with some humor (?) provided by the Chico character. Also there are some extended training sequences. And we learn how to make some sort of land schooner out of an old Volkswagen.

That's not to say the film doesn't have some cool moments, because it does, and the whole thing is ideal for the drive-ins of the day. It was tailor-made for the Bruce Lee craze of the late 70's-early 80's. As we all remember, everybody was Kung Fu fightin', so the good people of South Africa must have said, "Why not us?"

From there, it was a short step to getting a Sean Connery lookalike in full Nazi regalia to have his own Karate team. Then they fight another man's Karate team. Chico spends significant time assembling the team, which is done in a similar but better way in the sequel. As we wrote in our review for Kill and Kill Again, and mentioned when we were on the Exploding Helicopter podcast, it seems that a lot of people took influence from that film. 

The original appears to be quite influential as well, because there is a Japanese character named Miyagi, and someone else later on catches a fly with chopsticks. Everyone pronounces it "Miya-jee", with a soft G, apparently, and there's at least one moment when he appears on screen and a gong sounds.


For the sequel, the humor is increased, but they did carry over the opening credits idea of projecting the names on people's bodies. They also had another barfight, and you can never have too many of those.


Overall, Kill or Be Killed could have used a bit more structure, and the endless fights toward the finale get a bit mind-numbing. But it's all very silly, and the score is quite good. It alternates from wah-wah funk to fuzzy electric guitar, and the song used during the car/schooner sequence was cool.


While the film probably worked better if you saw it at a drive-in in 1980, it's still worth seeing at least once, if only as a product of the time when those cats were fast as lightning, and it was a little bit frightening.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty