Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		5.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Killdozer Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov December 8, 2020

Jerry London's "Killdozer" (1974) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the disc include vintage production and promotional materials; new audio interview with the director; and new audio commentary by critics Lee Gambin and Jarret Gahan. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Cars can make great cinematic assassins. For the transformation to work as intended, however, the director has to do a couple of things right. First, the four-wheeled assassin has to have a special appearance. A beat-up station wagon won’t work. It does not matter how talented the director is and how nicely he shoots the clunker -- absolutely no one will take it seriously. Second, the four-wheeled assassin will need a unique personality. The vintage charmer from John Carpenter’s Christine has it -- before the makeover it looks oddly mysterious, after the makeover it looks oddly mysterious and sexy. The black racer from Juraj Herz’s Ferat Vampire has it too. In the beginning of the film, it looks sleek and mean, later on it comes alive and becomes utterly unhinged. One more thing. The right appearance and the right personality won’t help much if the four-wheeled assassin isn’t unleashed in a proper environment. This is the area where the director has to do his magic. Herz’s film is as spooky as it is because it merges communist reality with horror reality and by doing so instantly validates the existence of the black racer. It brilliantly moves to the ‘other side’ and the viewer can’t quite tell when the real and the surreal begin to overlap.

What about bulldozers? Can they make great, or at least decent, cinematic assassins?

In 1974, someone convinced Jerry London that a story about a bulldozer going on the warpath can make a good film. The original material apparently came from a novelette by Theodore Sturgeon -- which this writer has not read -- and was adapted by Herbert F. Solow. Ed MacKillop and Sturgeon then fine-tuned it and London went to work to make a TV film out of it. What he delivered is, to put it mildly, quite amusing. Indeed, it looks and feels a lot like a parody, but because it was not intended to be one it is actually seriously perplexing, at times even undeniably surreal. At a remote construction site, a mechanic operating a massive bulldozer hits an unusual piece of rock which emits some sort of lethal radiation that quickly destroys his body. After the incident, the bulldozer comes alive and goes after the mechanic’s coworkers, but their leader, Lloyd Kelly (Clint Walker), vows to fight back and eventually the two meet in a deadly duel. Pretty surreal, isn’t it? It is hard to believe that someone actually saw any potential for a good film in this story.

But London stepped up to do the film and – this really needs to be underscored because it is the one and only reason why the action is so amusing to behold -- got a small but pretty solid crew to work with. In addition to Walker, the cast includes Neville Brand (Stalag 17), Robert Urich (Magnum Force, TV’s Vega$), James Wainwright (Joe Kidd), Carl Betz (TV’s Mission: Impossible), and James A. Watson Jr. (TV’s The Blue Knight), and for the majority of the film these actors behave as if they are contributing to a serious thriller where the suspense is entirely legit. London directs with the same mindset as well, completely avoiding the fact that this huge piece of iron and steel that the bulldozer is cannot possibly chase and crush anyone that tries to get away from it.

As bad as the story is the entire film would have made perfect sense if at the very end Walker’s character suddenly wakes up with a huge hangover and discovers a couple of empty whisky bottles next to his bed. Drug paraphernalia would have been even better, but given the fact that the film was intended for TV this could not have been a viable option. Regardless, the hangover and empty whisky bottles would have put the mayhem in a proper context and explained how the bulldozer became an intelligent killdozer. As it is, however, this is just a very, very strange film that in a way actually demands respect because it exists. Gotta love the ‘70s.

Killdozer Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.33:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Killdozer arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

The release is sourced from a very beautiful new 2K master. On my system the entire film basically looked brand new and there were more than a few areas where I thought that the makeover actually looked much better than some recent high-profile restorations. Depth was particularly impressive, though as you could probably tell from the screencaptures we have provided with our review the color grading job is superb as well. I quite liked how healthy so many different nuances looked in the darker footage, where finer details can easily be flattened or even lost. There are no traces of problematic digital work. Predictably, grain appears very nicely exposed and resolved. Image stability is outstanding. All in all, this is a first-class 2K master that makes revisiting the film quite a treat. (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).

Killdozer 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 provided for the main feature.

The audio sounded a little compressed on my system, at times also a tad thinner that I would have preferred. I know that older films usually have inherited recording limitations, but in this case I think that there is something more going on that at the very least contributes to the thinness I mentioned. Still, the dialog is very easy to follow, plus there are no audio dropouts or distracting distortions to report in our review.

Killdozer Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Interview with Jerry London - in this new audio interview, director Jerry London discusses the evolution of his career as well as his involvement with Killdozer. Also, there are some pretty interesting comments about the manner in which the large bulldozer was operated while the camera was rolling. The interview was conducted exclusively for Kino Lorber. In English, not subtitled. (23 min, 1080p).

• Commentary - this exclusive new audio commentary was recorded by critics Lee Gambin and Jarret Gahan.

• Image Gallery - a collection of production and promotional materials for Killdozer. (5 min, 1080p).

Killdozer Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It seems like the original concept for Jerry London's Killdozer introduced an unhinged bulldozer that would do a lot of the things the mean truck in Steven Spielberg's Duel does. I think that it was a pretty bizarre concept for a film because a bulldozer's mobility is entirely different. And yet even in its current form Killdozer demands to be taken very, very seriously, which instantly ensures a pretty surreal viewing experience. I was so surprised that by the time its final credits rolled, I think I was genuinely impressed. Kino Lorber's release of Killdozer is sourced from an outstanding new 2K master and features an interesting exclusive new audio interview with director London. RECOMMENDED only to folks that enjoy crazy films.