Night of the Killer Bears review.
Thailand brings us the strange, yet entertaining, Night of the Killer Bears. A slasher movie featuring killers in giant bear costumes. What, I ask you, is not to love?
New movie reviews will not contain spoilers.
Night of the Killer Bears
Directed by Kanphong Banjongphinij
Starring Sananthachat Thanapatpisal, Patchata Jan-Ngern, Chanagun Arpornsutinan and Panisara Rikulsurakan
Night of the Killer Bears Review
You may have noticed that the title on the poster above is different than the title of this movie. Its original title was, apparently, The World of Killing People. It’s not as inviting or exciting a title…but after watching Night of the Killer Bears…I must admit that it probably makes more sense. The reason for this is two-fold. First and foremost, bears aren’t killing anyone in this movie. Not real bears run amok…not stuffed animals come to life. The antagonists are people in bear costumes. Secondly, well…we’ll get to that in a minute.
Five friends gather at a remote resort to reconnect after the death of their friend. Personal strife and assigned blame amongst them must be put on the backburner when a group of knife wielding killers in bear costumes crash their party. Who will survive…and why is this happening?
Night of the Killer Bears answers those two questions. It answers them in interesting, unexpected, and entertaining ways. What it doesn’t answer, and what the original title alludes to, is what in the hell is happening in the world of this movie. I’m not talking about why the killers are wearing bear costumes…that was surprisingly easy to accept. It even leads to some good humor when the giant bear heads make it hard for a killer to see out of. The sight of someone holding a big bear noggin so they can try to stab with their free arm and see out of the eyeholes is objectively, and purposely, funny.
What I’m talking about is something that Night of the Killer Bears does right from the opening scene. We are introduced to a waitress who is looking to close early to meet her boyfriend. An admirer of hers ties her up and goes crazy at the idea of her with another man. She escapes and finds that her boyfriend has been murdered. Then, she laughs and thanks her captor for saving her the trouble of doing it herself. She kills her admirer and heads back to her restaurant. Finally, she is killed by someone in a bear costume.
What?
For the life of me I never figured this out. It’s only further complicated when other characters in the movie also turn out to be secret psycho killers for no discernable reason. I don’t mean “these characters turn out to be in on it” …I mean multiple people do their part in the story and then turn and kill a random person that has nothing to do with it. It’s the oddest thing I’ve ever seen. One of our lead characters has just gotten done committing a murder before they even got to the resort. Why? I have no idea.
When I see that the original title was The World of Killing People, I can’t help but wonder if there is something I am missing. Something big. Something that would explain why this is a world of…well…killing people. Maybe I missed it. I don’t believe I did. I think we are just supposed to understand the world here as one full of murderers. But that can’t be it…because it would stand at odds with a late movie reveal that posits killing is bad and something to be regretful of having done. So, I end up at…I don’t know.
The good news is that this extremely strange aspect of Night of the Killer Bears doesn’t hurt enjoyment of the movie. If anything, the nature of not being able to predict anything that happens next helps it. The fun of the movie is that there is murder everywhere. We spend enough time establishing the characters and their relationships…but get back to the murdering bears quickly enough.
There are some great kills here. One standout fight sequence features a bad-ass character taking on multiple killer bears at once…and kicking some major bear ass. Not all the effects work…but the ones that misfire are big swings which is enjoyable enough. If you like fast, random, plentiful death in your slasher movie…Night of the Killer Bears is for you.
The cast is good. Some actors are prone to over-acting but given the film’s content…it’s not exactly out of place. It’s a good-looking movie to boot. Although mostly set in one location…it makes gets a lot out of it. The third act also starts sprinkling in the comedy which is always a welcome addition.
There are twists and turns…almost all of which work surprisingly well. There is a good reason this is happening to these people. The movie also does some interesting things with killer/survivor dynamics that we can’t get into without spoilers…but makes for an entertaining time. That’s probably the best way to describe the movie in totality. An entertaining time.
Scare Value
Not everything in Night of the Killer Bears makes sense. Perhaps the original title is a clue as to what was going on in the world of this movie…because the movie certainly doesn’t explain it. It does explain why this group of friends is being attacked, however…and that’s more than enough to sustain your enjoyment. Lots of kills…some craziness and a few laughs are what you’ll get out of this strange, strange movie. Sometimes that’s good enough.
3/5
Night of the Killer Bears Link
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Night of the Killer Bears Trailer
If you enjoyed this review of Night of the Killer Bears, check out Renfield and The Pope’s Exorcist or Kill Her Goats
