If you know the name Chad Ferrin, then you have a pretty good idea of what to expect from Sunset Strip Killers, an amped up MOFO of a motion picture starring Max E. Williams and Susan Priver as real-life serial killers Doug Clark and Carol Bunday aka the Sunset Strip Killers. 

Ferrin has given us the likes of Pig Killer, Ed Kemper, and Night Caller among others. With a Troma background, Ferrin's approach can pretty much be summed up as a helluva lot of fun and relentlessly brutal. Working from a script by Timothy Croteau and Chuck Parello, Ferrin plops us down in 80's LA with Bunday, a down on her luck nurse fresh outta being swindled by her landlord (smarmily played by Brian Foyster) when she comes across Doug, a smooth-talking sound engineer with a nervous gleam in his eyes and a penchant for punch in your face porn. 

I'm not sure what it says about me that I fell hard for Priver's Carol Bundy, a woman who you know has a traumatic past that's about to get a whole lot more traumatic in the future. Kinky sex turns into S&M turns into serious emotional and sexual abuse. 

But hey, Carol's all in. 

Then comes the murder. 

I can't deny it. I had a blast with Sunset Strip Killers, set for release on July 10th with a limited theatrical release and then going VOD on July 14th with Epic Pictures. If you prefer your low-budget chills and thrills timid, look elsewhere. If, however, you've ever been taken on a date to a porn set then this film is for you. 

Priver is seriously impressive here in bringing all new meaning to the idea of a wounded healer. Watching Bundy's transformation as brought to life by Priver is seriously a twisted joy to behold. Priver has worked with Ferrin before and it shows. These two are in sync and it's gruesomely gratisfying to watch. 

This is not to say that Max E. Williams is a slouch. Far from the truth. Semi-functional by day with psychological cracks the size of the San Andreas Fault, Williams's Doug Clark is charismatically brutally. We believe in this sadistic svengali and his mesmerizing sway over Carol. 

The two together? Wowsers. 

While Sunset Strip Killers is a brutal flick, the brutality is more courtesy of the orgasmic glee that envelopes Clark and Bundy from beginning to end. There are absolutely scenes here you seriously will not forget. 

Lensing by Jeff Billings is balls to the walls impressive throughout. It's a stylish and seductive slap in the face that makes you want to get slapped again. Geoff Shell's original score for the film, yeah I'm mentioning the score in a kick-ass serial killer flick, is also an inspired companion to the effective storytelling from Croteau and Parello. Kudos as well for Jahad Ferif's production design and Geri Infante's impressively time-appropriate and character faithful costume design. 

Once in a while, you need to really cut loose and watch some kick in the gut cinema. That's Chad Ferrin and that's Sunset Strip Killers. 

Written by Richard Propes
The Independent Critic