Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.5

Kill Me Again Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov October 21, 2018

John Dahl's "Kill Me Again" (1989) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of independent distributors Olive Films. The only bonus feature on the disc is a vintage trailer for the film. In English, without optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

The fixer

After the stunned businessman refuses to do what he is told Vince (Michael Madsen) immediately empties his gun in his chest, walks to him, and pulls out the briefcase from his twitchy hands. Then he gets back in the running car and Fay (Joanne Whalley) floors it.

But on a secluded road far away from the city, Vince becomes concerned because it turns out that the stolen briefcase has a lot more cash than he had expected, like the amount that typically makes mafia goons eager to hurt and kill, and then quickly declares that they need to get out of Nevada fast. Fay disagrees with him and insists that they must have hit the jackpot and that their next destination should be Sin City, as he had promised her. Not too long after that, at a rest stop, she uses a large stone to crush Vince’s silly ‘logic’ and abandons him unconscious in a puddle of urine.

Meanwhile, in a lousy office in Reno, private eye Jack Andrews (Val Kilmer) gets his pinky broken by a couple of goons who have grown tired of waiting for him to pay back the ten grand that he owes. Before they leave, they assure him that he has exactly a week before they come back and make him suffer even more. When a day later Fay walks into Jack’s office and offers to pay him ten grand to kill her -- not for real, but just to trick her crazy boyfriend into believing that she is dead and gone forever so that she can start a new life -- he ‘reluctantly’ agrees.

Initially, the private eye’s perfect murder plan works exactly as described to his client, but when Fay decides to do a bit of improvising the whole thing begins to fall apart.

It does not take a genius to figure out that John Dahl knew exactly what his directorial debut ought to look and feel like to be effective because it is the kind of rare first effort that clicks in all the right places. Indeed, Dahl’s proper understanding of the material and the tone that it needs to be presented with keeps the film authentically loose, which is an essential requirement for neo-noir projects to be comfortable in their skin. The opposite scenario typically ensures a degree of artificiality that can be quite off-putting, especially when it is very obvious that the stylization is the director’s top priority. (Another lovely directorial debut from the ‘80s that mixes very well style and substance and looks just as authentically loose is Joel and Ethan Coen’s Blood Simple).

Possibly except for Whalley, the casting choices are excellent. Killmer and especially Madsen look laidback and cool without making a visible effort to be and as a result the predicaments that their characters face never feel suspicious. Whalley occasionally looks like a genuine troublemaker, but her performance leaves the impression that she is undecided as to whether her character ought to be a frivolous girl who does not mind a bit of extra action in her life or a confident femme fatale who can do some real damage.

Dahl was able to secure the services of Dutch cinematographer Jacques Steyn, who early in his career lensed the cult German thriller Out of Order. (Subkultur Entertainment is finalizing a 4K restoration of Carl Schenkel's film and is expected to introduce it on Blu-ray early next year. You can see additional information about the restoration here).

Kill Me Again Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, John Dahl's Kill Me Again arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Olive Films.

The release is sourced from an older master, almost certainly the same master that MGM used when it prepared its DVD release of Kill Me Again some years ago. Quite predictably, even though there are no traces of serious compromising digital corrections, there are obvious source-related shortcomings. For example, there are plenty of well-lit close-ups that look either decent or good, but indoor and nighttime footage routinely lacks the type of crucial depth and supporting nuances that strong contemporary remasters ensure. So, in these areas you should expect to see light to moderate black crush, sporadic flatness, and less than optimal fluidity. In fact, on a larger screen fluidity is one of the key qualities that quickly gives up the age of the current master. Colors are stable, but the grading job has capped some native nuances and they are missing. The good news is that overall balance is still surprisingly pleasing. Grain exposure definitely can be improved, though there are no striking anomalies that would bother sensitive viewers. Again, the current master simply has a capped potential. Image stability is excellent. There are no large cuts, debris, stains, or damage marks to report. All in all, this is a mostly decent presentation of the film, but a proper new remaster will undoubtedly deliver some very meaningful improvements in a number of key areas. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Kill Me Again Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are not provided for the main feature.

The lossless track is strong -- it maintains proper depth, clarity, and convincing balance. However, I wonder if there was a 5.1 mix available, and if there was, whether it was created with John Dahl's involvement. There is a lot of movement and (audio) color throughout the film that suggest a much bigger emphasis on role of the sound design than what the 2.0 track is capable of recreating. The dialog is clean and stable.

Kill Me Again Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - vintage MGM trailer for Kill Me Again. In English, not subtitled. (2 min, 1080p).

Kill Me Again Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

John Dahl's first three films -- Kill Me Again, Red Rock West, and The Last Seduction -- are amongst the finest '90s entries in the American neo-noir library. There is a lot to like in them, but their tone and atmosphere are just perfect. I would have loved to see them gathered in a box set and remastered properly by the folks at Criterion, with a stellar selection of new bonus features for each film, but it is obvious now that this is a dream project that would not materialize. Olive Films' release of Kill Me Again is sourced from an older master that was prepared by MGM some years ago. It is mostly decent, but the film can and should look quite a bit better in high-definition. RECOMMENDED.