Cult Killer DVD Review (Sony Pictures/Saban Films)

Cult Killer (aKa The Last Girl) is a 2024 suspense thriller directed by Jon Keeyes (American Nightmare, Hallow’s End, Phobia, Rogue Hostage, The Survivalist, Code Name Banshee, and Suburban Nightmare). It was written by Charles Burnley (The Mechanical Grave and Yankee Rose). It was produced by 40 different people. It grossed $36,355 worldwide during it’s limited theatrical run. Legendary Private Investigator Mikeal Tallini (played by: Antonio Banderas from Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, the Desperado trilogy, the Zorro franchise, Original Sin, Haywire, Interview with the Vampire, Assassins, The Expendables 3, Machete Kills, and Philadelphia) and his young protege Cassie Holt (played by: Alice Eve from Big Nothing, Crossing Over, She’s Out of My League, ATM, The Raven, Men in Black 3, Star Trek Into Darkness, Iron Fist, and Bombshell) get themselves into a web of intrigue plus clashing with the police that includes Rory McMahon (played by: Paul Reid from The Ritual, Boy Eats Girl, You are not my Mother, Raw, and Never Grow Old). It gets even more dangerous when they start tracking down a vicious serial killer targeting a powerful family with a dark secret!!!! Cult Killer is definitely a title that grabs your attention. Action star Antonio Banderas has been doing lots of direct to video or independent films in lately. He might be promoted all over the artwork and credits for this but he actually has a much smaller role than you would expect. He’s still really good in Cult Killer and his character is very important to the whole plot here. Actress Alice Eve is the actual lead in this low budget thriller. She’s always been great to look at but she’s actually been better at her craft over the years. She’s a much better actor now compared to when she first started out. She carries Cult Killer as the PI that will do anything to solve her case. Shelley Hennig (Unfriended, Teen Wolf, Ouija, and The Secret Circle) is one of the biggest surprises from this production. She definitely makes this movie interesting. I’m not really familiar with her besides a few things but she was great in this. The supporting cast includes Paul Reid, Olwen Fouéré (Mandy), Kim DeLonghi (Code Name Banshee), Matthew Tompkins (Walker Texas Ranger), and Nick Dunning (The Tudors). Cult Killer does some decent thrills and violence but it’s more about the nasty situations it covers. I wish it had a little more gore to it, I think that would have made it much better and it could have been around 10 minutes shorter. It would have gave it a better flow because it did drag at times so elements mentioned above really increase this type of sub-genre. Don’t get me wrong, it does keeps you entertained for the most part and I’m always down to check out a new serial killer film so it’s worth giving a shot. Let’s discuss this standard definition presentation from Sony Pictures! This 480p (2.39:1) transfer actually looks impressive for being such a low budget production. Cult Killer has solid production design, locations, and cinematography that stand out for this DVD release. I’m kinda surprised this one didn’t get a blu ray home video release considering Antonio Banderas still has a big fan base despite his smaller films over the years. It has an English: Dolby Digital 5.1 track. It has some nice moments with a boost to it. All of the dialogue is very clean, the thrills are elevated, and the music is amped up here. It has English SDH and French subtitles. It’s available everywhere right now including MovieZyng.com, CHECK IT OUT!!!!