Blu-ray/DVD Review: Malevolence 3: Killer

We are well into the month of Halloween, the perfect time to enjoy some good horror films. All three Malevolence films are being re-issued as Blu-ray/DVD combo packs. While the first Malevolence is a suspense film combined with a crime story, and Malevolence 2: Bereavement is an intriguing and terrifying psychological study of what makes a killer, Malevolence 3: Killer is more in line with the classic slasher flicks of the 1980s. This time around, we are introduced to characters who are mostly there to add to the body count, characters we don’t care much about, such as the guy at the storage unit, and characters we even dislike, such as the sleazy landlord and the obnoxious roommate. But that’s part of the point. This film is an homage to slasher films, and as such it works quite well, delivering lots of jolts and scares. Like the first two films, Malevolence 3: Killer was written and directed by Stevan Mena, and this time around he also acts as the director of photography.

This film opens basically where the first film left off (remember that the second film actually takes place before the first one), and even includes a bit of the ending of that first movie. And we see Martin Bristol (Jay Cohen), the killer, escaping through the woods, now loose upon the world and seemingly eager to kill more people. The film focuses on two groups of characters. The first centers on music student Ellie (Katie Gibson), along with her roommates, boyfriend and neighbors, all of whom are unwittingly in the path of a killer. The second group is made up of the agents investigating the murders from the first film, centering on Agent Perkins (Kevin McKelvy), who leads the investigation. And so we hope these two groups will meet before the first group is completely slaughtered.

As with most slasher sequels from the 1980s, it does not take long before the bodies start piling up. One of Ellie’s neighbors is a precocious child named Victoria (Victoria Mena), and her mother is one of the first to go, leading the girl to seek help from Ellie. That might bring to mind the first Halloween, for Ellie essentially acts as a babysitter to Victoria while they wait for the girl’s father to return home. Also, Ellie is the good girl of the film, the innocent and intelligent girl you assume will be the final person standing, like Jamie Lee Curtis’ character in Halloween. Another element that might remind you of Halloween is that while Ellie’s friends are being murdered, the police are watching the wrong house, believing Martin will return home.

However, I like that the agents are not stupid, and it doesn’t take them long to come up with Martin Bristol as a suspect. They soon discover that the survivors of the first film – a mother and daughter – have been murdered, and come to believe that Martin Bristol will return home because his mother is the only link he has to the world. The film features a supporting performance by Adrienne Barbeau as Martin’s grandmother. Of course, that also connects this film to 1980s horror movies, for Adrienne Barbeau starred in such movies as The Fog, The Thing and Creepshow. I love her reaction when she is told Martin might still be alive. She is overwhelmed, immediately reaching for the phone to call her daughter. Her presence is certainly an asset to this film.

As I mentioned, Malevolence 3 is quite a bit different from the two previous installments in the series, being more of a slasher film. And like other slasher films, it contains plenty of false scares preceding the real scares. For example, a hand reaching into a car to grab a guy turns out to be the guy’s girlfriend. But then a moment later the killer reaches in to stab him. There is also nudity and even a bit of sex, something absent from the earlier two films. As with those earlier films, director Stevan Mena composed the music, and some of the music cues here will remind you of Friday The 13th and other 1980s slasher flicks. While this film is not nearly as good as Malevolence 2: Bereavement, it is still enjoyable and gets quite tense toward the end.

Special Features

This Blu-ray/DVD set contains a few special features, including a commentary track by director Stevan Mena, who talks about having to reshoot a lot of the film after the death of a key actor. He also talks about the casting, and using his daughter for the role of Victoria. He says the movie is a love letter to the slasher movies he grew up with. “And the thing that I tried to capture from that time period is really the tone,” he says. This is the first movie that he shot digitally.

There is a behind-the-scenes featurette that contains footage from the location scout as well as moments from the production, including bits with the animals and trying to get them to do what was needed. This is approximately eight minutes. Composing Killer is a short piece on the score, focusing on an interview with Stevan Mena who talks about the importance of music in horror films. This special feature is approximately seven minutes.

The special features also include a photo gallery and trailers for all three Malevolence films.

Malevolence 3: Killer was written and directed by Stevan Mena, and is scheduled to be released on Blu-ray/DVD on October 15, 2019.