‘Five captives. One deadly trial. Beyond judgement lies the truth.’
Anonymous Killers is a 2020 American horror thriller film about four seasoned killers and one hapless professor who wake up in chains. The five discover they are part of a demented experiment orchestrated by a maniacal, mysterious captor.
To decide their fate, they must share the motives behind their crimes as they face the judgement of their peers. The rules are non-negotiable and the outcome is clear: live or die. The moral compass spins frantically as all fight to justify their lives before the final vote is cast.
Written and directed by A.R. Hilton – making his feature debut – the movie stars Dominic Pace, Gabriela Lopez, Kevin Glikman, Natasha Halabi, Nathanyael Gray and Patrick Caberty.
Reviews [may contain spoilers]:
” …the premise of which piece of human garbage deserves to live didn’t really work for me. Unlike Saw, these explanatory flashbacks take us outside the room, so any potential claustrophobia is entirely lost. There’s plenty of sympathy for the devils here, but the only reaction we can give to that is – so what? […] More positively, there are some pretty good performances here, and it looks good all the way through.” Horror DNA
“By the time the end of the film shows up, there is really nothing of substance to be gained or taken away. The end is gory, I will give the film that, but it doesn’t have quite the right impact, because there isn’t much in it that seems to be leading to that point. Instead, the plot seems to be taking no direction and then wham hits us with some excessive violence.” Killer Horror Critic
Release:
Anonymous Killers premiered on October 6th 2020 with a limited ‘theater at home’ experience and a wider streaming release later in the month.
Background:
“Instead of digital, director A.R. Hilton chose to shoot on 35mm film to give Anonymous Killers a more natural, grainy look than using filters applied to digital film would result in. This artistic choice also made Hilton eligible for the Panavision First Time Filmmaker Grant, which rewards first-time filmmakers with up to a million dollars in Panavision cameras and gear. Panavision loved the script and stuck with the crew through the entire four years it took to complete.”
Main cast and characters:
Dominic Pace … Romero Scaranelli
Gabriela Lopez … Lucy Black
Kevin Glikmann … Curtis Tiddleman
Natasha Halabi … Marlene Gunthery
Manu Intiraymi … Vladimir
Alena Savostikova … Sasha
Andrew Bongiorno … Sean
Meredith Thomas … Marlene’s Mother
Keith Mason … Bodyguard
Emily Bader … Teenage Marlene
Mike Ferguson … Mikey the bouncer
Clint Jung … Detective Nance
Kevin McCorkle … Attorney
Erica Manni … Alina Dukova
Sandra Staggs … Gloria
Timothy E. Goodwin … Dunkin
Sean Ormond … Tony
William Leon … Adam
Luke Fattorusso … Young Romero Scaranelli
Lisa Goodman … Madam Nadia
Michael Ark … Marlene’s Father
Hiram A. Murray … Rebel Leader
Jeffrey Decker … Samuel Gunthery
Mauri Montebello Perez … Samantha’s Boyfriend
Sarah Burkhardt … Christine Jennings
Chelsea Newman … Samantha
Hailey Hermida … Young Lucy
Cort King … Jamal
Phillip Abraham … Christopher
Dennis Nicomede … Simon Raft
Hal Alpert … Mr Hutling
Marlene Marquez … Alba
Patrick Cupo … George
Lindsey Hutchison … Katherine
Kyle Eastman … Teenage Curtis
Vincent van Hinte … Faber
Mallian Butler … Fatima
Tom Noga … Nicky
Technical details:
100 minutes
Notes:
This film should not be confused with Killers Anonymous (2019) directed by Martin Owen and starring Gary Oldman and Jessica Alba
