In the ’80s and ’90s, when action stars like Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Jean-Claude Van Damme ruled the box office, a different breed of stars dominated the direct-to–video market. Don “The Dragon” Wilson, Cynthia Rothrock, and Gary Daniels were among the more successful. Then there were the self-made action stars, those who never really ruled the theaters or video stores but had enough of a following (here or abroad) to get by.
A prime example is Mr. David Heavener. He made his debut in 1988 with Outlaw Force, writing, producing, directing, and starring in it. He would go on to create his own projects and achieve a moderate level of fame. Dark Force Entertainment has released one of his more popular titles on Blu-ray, Kill Crazy (1989).
Still haunted by the horrors of Vietnam, a group of troubled veterans is released from a mental institution and sent into the wilderness for a supervised camping retreat to ease their return to civilian life. But their therapy session turns into a living nightmare when a rogue paramilitary group begins hunting the unarmed men for sport.
As the veterans are stalked and slaughtered one by one, a hardened survivor, Alexander Grady Puckett (David Heavener), refuses to become another victim. Drawing on the combat instincts he believed he had buried, he turns the tables on his merciless pursuers, transforming their twisted hunting ground into a bloody battlefield where survival means fighting back.
This movie, a mix of First Blood and The Most Dangerous Game, is an mostly entertaining B-movie. Once you realize it was made for the ’80s video market, you’ll appreciate it for what it is. Be aware, it includes gratuitous nudity, reflecting that era, and features unnecessary sexual assault scenes.
Heavener assembled a pretty phenomenal cast, including Rachelle Carson, Burt Ward, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, Gary Owens, Robert Hegyes, and others. How can you go wrong with a Robin and two Sweathogs? It’s exactly what you’d expect: cheesy, goofy, and loaded with cheap action.
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Dark Force Entertainment delivers Kill Crazy on Blu-ray, featuring a 2K scan of the original uncut camera negative, extensive color correction, and a new 2023 interview with David Heavener. It’s far from a lost or undiscovered action classic, but it does have its place in cinematic history.
Heavener and Kill Crazy will remind you of those long visits to the video store, browsing the aisles, examining the covers, and grabbing whatever looked the most outrageous. Hopefully, Dark Force will continue this trend, bringing whatever low-budget action oddity they can find to physical media.
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