Kill or Be Killed

Spotting David Heavener in the cast, one might understandably think that this is another vanity project for him, where he writes, directs, produces, acts, and provides the musical score. Actually, he only has two roles in this movie - acting and producing. Possibly due to the fact that he was directed by someone else, he comes across better than he does in his vanity projects - he's clean-shaven and looks neater, and his performance is somewhat better than in his other movies. That is about all that's positive I can say about "Kill Or Be Killed". Believe it or not, it looks cruder and cheaper than Heavener's vanity projects. It seems to have all been filmed in small fleabag hotel rooms, abandoned buildings, and in backyards, often with no sign of set decoration or anything else brought in to spruce up the scenes. Often I had the feeling that the filmmakers were making it up as they went along, with the cheapjack feel and also the slow-moving plot, an unsympathetic main character, and an ending that is far from satisfying and feels like the filmmakers also made it up on the spot because they had enough footage to reach an acceptable running time. By the way, this movie seems to have fallen in the public domain, which is not surprising because no one in their right mind would think that maintaining the copyright would be worth the time and money.

Watched this movie about 3 times. The story line is not all that bad and does have some suspense to it. The action is non stop, for all you action buffs who like gunfights and chases you will enjoy this. The lead actor who plays Michael actually resembles Ralph Machio to a certain extent. I think I have seen him in other action movies in the early 1980's. David Heavener has been in many action flicks as well and holds his own for the most part in this one, but tends to overact in certain scenes. This movie also has an aspect of comedy in it which lightens the mood when necessary. Any flick that has revenge as it main core is always a good watch! Kill or be Killed is no exception and I recommend everyone give it a viewing and judge for yourself as this cult classic may have a rebirth in years to come.

If you're claustrophobic, don't watch this movie because the sets and setting occur in such constrained places that it feels like the entire production was shot in a cramped closet.

In fact, don't watch this movie, period. Everything about it reeks "amateur night". Some might get a kick out of the really bad acting and unconvincing story but it's not worth losing 90 minutes of your life over it.

David Heavener is some sort star in some people's eyes but for me he looks like someone who makes a living parking cars, which is what he's probably doing right now.