Ed Kemper Blu Ray Review (Dread Presents / Epic Pictures)

Ed Kemper (aKa The Co-Ed Killer) is a 2025 serial killer film co-written, produced, and directed by Chad Ferrin (Devil’s Disciple: The Night Stalker, Dorothea, Pig Killer, Exorcism at 60,000 Feet, Scalper, Night Caller, and H. P. Lovecraft’s the Old Ones). It was co-written and produced by Stephen Johnston (Ed Gein, Ted Bundy, The Hillside Strangler, and Starkweather). It’s based on the real life crimes from “The Co-Ed Killer” Edmund Kemper. It was produced by Jeff Olan (Demise, Pig Killer, The Deep Ones, Holy Hollywood, Scalper, Night Caller, and Devils Moon). At the age of 15, young Edmund Kemper killed both of his grandparents. Years later, Ed (played by: Brandon Kirk from Dorothea, Night Caller, Scalper, H. P. Lovecraft’s the Old Ones, and Panicdotes) is released back into society to the care of his domineering and rude mother Clarnell Strandberg (played by: Susan Priver from Dorothea, Scalper, Lethally Blonde, Night Caller, and Unspeakable: Beyond the Wall of Sleep). No one knows about his disturbed childhood. He tries to live a reformed life but his past haunts him and he goes back to his gruesome ways. Soon after, he goes on a killing spree that will never be forgotten in the history of true crime!!!! I remember when they finally did the first full length film on the infamous serial killer in 2008 under “Kemper” and it was really awful. So I was disappointed that they fumbled his only movie until now. He got his own documentary in 2010 with “Kemper on Kemper: Inside the Mind of a Serial Killer” which was really good. His crimes have been discussed in The Killing of America, Biography, Very Scary People, Becoming Evil: Serial Killers, Born to Kill?, Serial Killer Culture, World’s Most Evil Killers, Serial Killers, and so many other television productions plus countless books. Probably, the most popular appearance when it comes to the real life monster is the 2017 Netflix series “Mindhunter”. Edmund Kemper shows up in 4 episodes and it really re-introduced him to the mainstream in the modern day. Ed Kemper has been in the public eye since the early 70’s. Director Chad Ferrin returns to the true crime sub-genre here. He’s no stranger to doing features on some of the most evil people which includes Robert “Willy” Pickton and Dorothea Puente plus his next project is about Richard Ramirez. What I really enjoyed about Kemper is that it actually sticks to the facts and it doesn’t try to make up all kinds of bullshit for entertainment value like Ryan Murphy’s Monster besides the silly Devil stuff thrown in here. It’s a character study on a man that was trying to be normal after a traumatizing upbringing but he’s pushed to the edge by his negative mother. Brandon Kirk is very impressive as serial killer Ed Kemper and he actually does resemble the known psychopath. Kemper has multiple sides to him and Kirk pulls them all off in this. Ed stood out a little more when it came to murderers. He has an IQ of 136 and he’s at a staggering 6’9 so it makes him one of the tallest slashers of all time. He only got caught because he turned himself in, no one had a clue about his dark secrets over the years. Susan Priver is great as the mean spirited Clarnell Strandberg. She rivals the terrible Augusta Gein that inspired Norma Bates from Psycho. She almost makes you feel sorry for Edmund at times. She’s just a bad person that makes everything worse. No one really wants to be around her. The supporting cast includes Scream Queen Brinke Stevens (The Slumber Party Massacre), Lew Temple (The Devil’s Rejects), Robert Miano (Donnie Brasco), Cassandra Gava (Conan the Barbarian), Katie Silverman (Mayans M.C.), Elina Madison (Mulholland Drive), Benjamin Philip (H. P. Lovecraft’s the Old Ones), Erin Luo (Dorothea), Rico E. Anderson (S.W.A.T), Gloria Therese (A Deadly Trap for the Cheating Husband), Viktoriia Vlasenko (Pig Killer), Jerry Irons (Dorothea), Silvia Spross (Die’ced: Reloaded), Joe Castro (Face Off), Patty Hayes (Dorothea), Suzanne Sumner Ferry (Pig Killer), and Christopher Louis Parker (Red Nights). Kemper has plenty of violence, gore, death, and grotesque visuals from talented fx artist Joe Castro (Night of the Demons III, Wishmaster franchise, Blood Feast 2, Uncle Sam, Terror Toons franchise, and Bonehill Road). This real story slasher is one of the better true crime adaptations in the independent scene. Despite being massive, Kemper didn’t look like a threat to most people. He looked nerdy and he was always soft spoken when approached. He blended in with all of the locals, he even drank with cops at the bar. Kemper is extremely low budget but I felt like they used their money wisely where it was needed. It had a consistent flow to it so it never dragged. Kemper killed a good amount of people during his reign of terror. This didn’t overdo it, it displays the shocking events. I think it’s much better than it’s current reputation. It delivers exactly what the audience would expect from The Co-Ed Killer, RECOMMENDED!!!! Let’s discuss this high definition presentation and special features from Dread! This 1080p (2.39:1) unrated transfer looks great for what it is. It’s a throwback to the 70’s and earlier when this all happened. It has sharp cinematography, retro production design, and brutal special fx that shine when it comes to the visuals. It has an English: Dolby Digital 5.1 and English: Dolby Digital 2.0 tracks on the disc. The audio has it’s moments mainly during the vicious kills and it’s score from legendary composer Richard Band (From Beyond, Re-Animator franchise, The House on Sorority Row, Ghoulies, Castle Freak, Puppet Master franchise, Shadowzone, Prison, TerrorVision, Troll, and Demonic Toys). All of the dialogue is crisp, the suspense is elevated, and the music has a big boost to it. It has English SDH subtitles. It has an “Audio Commentary” with writer Stephen Johnston and lead actor Brandon Kirk. Johnston previously wrote Ted Bundy, Ed Gein, The Hillside Strangler, and Starkweather so producer Michael Muscal asked if he had anymore ready to shoot. He didn’t at the time but it inspired him to do this one next. They chat about the cast, characters, real life stories, locations, music, special fx, and everything else that you would want to know about when it comes to the infamous serial killer. Lots of information and inside stories are brought up here. It has the little over 26 minute “Kemper 70’s Psycho Documentary”. It has interviews with the cast and crew. It has plenty of behind the scenes footage. It’s a very detailed making of short feature for Kemper. They chat about the independent production, their thoughts on it, the overall shoot, and many additional subjects. It has the almost 7 minute “Audition Tapes”. It has the little over 4 minute “Interviews”. It has archive footage from conversations with the real life Edmund Kemper. It has chats with some of main cast and crew. They talk about the project and the actual crimes that inspired this. It has almost 36 minutes of “Deleted Scenes”. There’s some solid material in this and several smaller roles get extended for it. It has an under a minute “Lost Ending”. I’m glad this wasn’t used because it’s ridiculous and it takes away from the actual reality. It has the little over 3 minute “The Devil’s Slide” Music Video from Monument of Misanthropy. It has the little over 5 minute “Matt Olivo Score Audition”. This is really good, it’s a different vibe to what they went with but it’s cool to listen to their other options from it. It has the little over 4 minute “Zephyr Teaser Tuesday”. It has some 70’s style music from when this all took place. It has a “Trailer” for Ed Kemper. It has various “Trailers” for related features from both Dread Presents and Epic Pictures. It’s available everywhere right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!!