My Friends Need Killing (1976) User Reviews (12)

Rough!

[BandSAboutMovies · 7/10 · 10 March 2019]

I can't believe this gutter level exploration of Vietnam came out in 1976. Actually, I can. Exploitation films aren't afraid to explore the kind of truths that regular films are squeamish about.

Gene Kline came back home and spent some time in a mental hospital, but is trying to get things right. He can't - he was part of a My Lai Massacre type situation and he'll never be right again. The worst part is his friends pushed him to do it and now, they think they're all gotten away with it.

They haven't. Gene is gonna make sure of that, no matter if his wife loves him and worries that he's about to kill himself. No, he's going to confront every single one of them and make them face up to what they're done, then snuff their lives out the same way they did those Vietnamese kids.

Make no mistake - this is not an easy watch. It's as brutal as it can be and it's ultra basement budget only makes it that much the better.

This movie was written and directed by Paul Leder, who was behind I Dismember Mama, A*P*E and Vultures. None of those movies will prepare you for this.

Unsettling tale well rendered on microbudget

[EyeAskance · 13 November 2003]

Serious, unpleasant film deals with a Vietnam War vet who returns home to the U.S., but is unable to face life with his memories of war's atrocities...namely, the ones committed by him and his fellow servicemen. Riddled with guilt and despair, he is overcome by a grim new sense of duty...a duty to enforce 'justice' for the inhumane things he and his comrades did overseas. The story which unfolds is grievous and visceral, as he embarks on a road trip to hell with a few stops along the way...to see his old friends...friends that need killing.

This is a zero-budget affair, and its downcast voltage is enhanced by the lackluster grittiness of low production values.

Recommended, except to very sensitive people. 6.5/10

Dreadful

[Oliver_Lenhardt · 1/10 · 21 August 2002]

(Mis)directed by Paul Leder, this is an early "Disturbed 'Nam Vet" flick. Greg Mullavy's fine performance as the central character cannot obviate the wretchedness of the filmmaking. For technical incompetence, the film falls just this side of Ed Wood's oeuvre. A dull script further ensures a thoroughly unengrossing viewing experience.

Pass this one by. An unearthed gem is not to be found here.

Grim and raw post-war Psycho Drama

[joseangeles · 10/10 · 6 July 2007]

Disgusting memories of a massacre where many innocents died during the Vietnam war torture the mind of a man to an unhealthy extreme. One night, after flipping out from the disturbing flashbacks of the massacre, he decides to put an end to all his mental anguish once and for all by leaving his wife and home behind to pursue a quest to kill his old NAM buddies he deems guilty of the atrocity, and thus must die in the name of justice. He sends out letters to his unsuspecting friends, telling them that he's coming by just for a visit. When he meets each friend, everyone gets along fine at first but then everything transforms into one ugly and intense episode as he gets cold and distant in personality, resulting in impressive psycho rants and eventually death.

The psycho rants are really the main strength of the movie. When the guy would start going crazy, he'd have such a blank creepy stare on his face and didn't even blink at all! Suddenly he would just go on and on about grim memories or sometimes act like he really was back in the war again, showing no mercy to anyone. The harshest encounter in the movie is when he forces his friend's wife at gunpoint to tie up his friend, who was previously shot on the hand by him. As his friend was bleeding and couldn't move, he started to violently rape his wife in front of him. The raped wife was crying and yelling for help like mad. There was not much nudity but it was like seeing an actual terrifying rape. It reminded me of the rape scene in "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer" where a woman gave such a disturbingly real performance during the abuse to the point that she needed psychological help in real life! Another noteworthy incident is with one guy getting drained of blood through a needle and tube. We don't see how the forced bleeding was set up, instead the lifeless body is just shown dripping blood while the psycho talks to it about why he did what he did in such a morbid and serious fashion. I really like the trippy music that would play during the nasty moments of the movie too.

This is a very simple low budget movie done to perfection because of the brutal concept, realistic dialog, and chilling performances. There are some messages and moral dilemmas that are very clever and subtle within the film. You grow to appreciate this film more when you think back at how it illustrates how different people try to cope with their guilt for whatever atrocities they are responsible for. Some try to forget as if nothing happened, some try to justify their atrocities by dehumanizing the victims as mere "gooks", some try to give back to the community, and some think killing is the solution for killing (the main psycho's view). Don't expect a Rambo, shoot' em up type action movie. I found this to be more of a serious psycho/horror drama with a gloomy mean-spirited atmosphere similar to classics such as "Repulsion", "Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer", "Combat Shock", "Axe", "I Spit on your Grave", and "Deathdream". Highly recommended for fans of gritty nihilistic cinema at its rawest.

Much agonizing over past deeds leads to murder and worse

[dbborroughs · 4/10 · 18 August 2007]

Low budget tale of a Viet Nam vet who goes on a trip to kill his old army buddies who forced him to commit the atrocities he can't live with.

This short (73 minutes) film is very talky as everyone agonizes of their past deeds. Well done at times, a rape is particularly unpleasant, it still didn't add up to much for me, probably because I've seen too many Vet who can't cope turns violent films. I think it also doesn't help in that the movie wants to be both a look inside the mind of damaged soldier as well as being an exploitation film.

Its not bad, but in the end I was like, so? 4 out of 10

The Killer Inside Him.

[HumanoidOfFlesh · 8/10 · 29 April 2010]

A disturbed Vietnam vet brutally murders all of his former platoon members who massacred the residents of a small village.Ugly and disturbing drama with repellent rape scene and truly sleazy atmosphere.I am not a fan of Paul Leder's "I Dismember Mama" but I found "My Friends Need Killing" intriguing and unforgettable.The film is well-acted and directed,the script is dark and nihilistic as it deals with dangerous psychosis,mass killing and sexual violence.I must say that the tacky film stock,seedy locations and amateurish camera-work all ooze with extreme cheapness,but fans of "Night Flowers","The Taxi Driver" or "Combat Shock" will surely enjoy this mean exploitation flick,which has far more on its mind than mere shock.8 out of 10.

Superb

[sirarthurstreebgreebling · 10/10 · 15 November 2000]

This is a low budget gem, it looks as if it was shot using the most basic equipment, the production values are non existent but the story of the deranged vietnam vet is one that stays in the mind for a while after viewing. Our hero goes on a killing spree, its a few years after he has served in nam and broke and depressed he decides to visit old friends. What could be more fun, what more could snap you out of a fit of depression than visiting ole buddies. Well this guy has different plans. Check this one out.

... And We Would All Go Down Together

[Coventry · 8/10 · 21 March 2008]

Wow! Can you say… disturbing!?! With "My Friends Need Killing", the undeservedly mocked director Paul Leder ("I Dismember Mama", "Ape") delivers one of the cheapest but also one of the all-time grittiest and most confronting post-Vietnam thriller/drama portraits ever! Like its own subject matter, this film is thoroughly unpleasant and depressing to watch, and the poverty-row production values actually contribute a lot to the powerful impact of the story. This is one obscure 70's gem sensitive souls and people with a weak stomach should stay far away from, as it's a genuinely shocking drama revolving on thought-provoking themes such as post-Vietnam traumas, guilt, retaliation and mental instability. Greg Mullavy gives an incredibly strong performance as Gene Kline, a man who lies awake night after night haunted by visions of the inhuman crimes he and his unit buddies committed in Vietnam and unceasingly hears the agonizing screams of their victims. Then, one morning, he writes his army comrades and subsequently visits them all with the vast determination to kill. Some of them, like Gill and Walter, deliberately banned the 'Nam atrocities from their minds and others, like Les, still struggle daily as well, but Gene vividly refreshes all their memories and foresees a suitable punishment. Considering the budgetary restrictions, the massacres obviously aren't too bloody, but the atmosphere of the "My Friends Need Killing" is almost unbearably excruciating and bitter. Even during the ex-soldiers' talkative reunion sequences, you simply feel how Paul Leder is building up towards a disturbing highlight. Mullavy is terrific, with a seemingly natural glance of despair and madness in his eyes, and he receives excellent support from the largely unknown cast. The song during the opening credits is catchy (and typically 70's) and the camera-work is surprisingly inventive for such an underdog film. "My Friends Need Killing" is definitely a cruel, relentless and nihilistic-toned piece of 70's film-making that is guaranteed to pester your thoughts long after seeing it. Music buffs will have noticed the title of this comment was borrowed from Billy Joel's Vietnam hit "Goodnight Saigon". Goodnight Saigon, all right … and also goodnight Texas, San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

disturbing zero-budget anti war film

[raegan_butcher · 9/10 · 18 July 2007]

One of the great titles in grindhouse cinema. Greg Mullavy gives an excellent performance as a guilt-ridden Vietnam veteran who decides to track down and kill the men who forced him to commit atrocities during the war.This is a straightforward, no-frills, zero-budget enterprise. The camera set-ups, lighting schemes, film stock, and locations reek of extreme poverty, but give the film an undeniably gritty feel. At times it is like watching a cheap snuff film. What stands out in the film is the agonized performance of Greg Mullavy. He seems to be giving it his all. The results are almost painfully raw. The film is one long scream. This is by no means a pleasant thing to watch, but it is a powerful viewing experience.

Another Well Acted, Grim and Despair Filled 70s' Gem

[grimsbybkk · 8/10 · 6 May 2009]

Having read about this movie for a long long time on various websites in the last 10 or so years, I finally managed to get a hold of it through slightly dubious means. Well it is nowhere near a graphically violent 70's sleazefest film that's been suggested in other websites. It is in fact a very grim character study of a man who can only come to terms with the actions of what he and his comrades did in their shared combat experiences by killing!!! his former comrades by way of the methods they used to kill the enemy and civilians. The acting is perfectly acceptable in the supporting roles and frankly is excellent in the lead performance by Greg Mullavy whose eyes and facial expressions suggest more pain and insanity than any unsubtle looney tune overacting by the likes of Mel Gibson could ever hope to achieve. It is however unavailable on DVD and it's really tough to get a VHS copy or any other format for that matter. Nevertheless if this is the genre you like and you've not seen it yet keep on keepin' on because it is another one of those unseen 70s' gems that I personally do so love. Recommended double bill My friends Need Killing + Night Flowers Nuff Said

Dismal B-movie with Vietnam vet as psycho

[lor_ · 8 February 2023]

My review was written in June 1984 after a screening at Selwyn theater on Manhattan's 42nd St.

For the seekers after bad movies (in the currently inverted value system among cultists), "My Friends Need Killing" is worth the hunt. Filmed in 1976 and only marginally released, this truly crummy B-picture not only belongs to the dismal genre of Vietnam aftershock but also manages to bungle its premise.

Greg Mullavey is seriously miscast as Gene Kline, a Vietnam Vet who wakes up from a nightmare one morning and decides to visit several members of his platoon to kill them for misdeeds (slaughtering Vietnamese villagers) in which he was an unwilling participant. Kline behaves in the manner of a schizophrenic, though his underlying rationality is in question due to Mllaevey's inconsistent performance.

Cheaply-made programmer (its 72-minute running time recalls the old Bs, but is still tedious to experience) is padded out with cross cutting back home during Kline's deadly visits, as his wife Laura (Meredih MacRae) worries about him and gets assistance from a local shrink in trying to analyze hubbie's disappearance and to find him.

Writer-director Paul Leder was obviously in a bad mood when he concocted this project, and film proves quite distasteful as Mullavey assumes the "sadistic" personalities of his "friends", torturing them and bloodily killing them.

"My Friends"' only virtue is its wacky conclusion, one of the goofiest twists imaginable. After stabbing his last target victim, the mean former sergeant, Kline confronts the sergeant's mucho pregnant wife with a knife -jumpcut to Laura and shrink rushing to the rescue. When the dynamic duo arrives, there is blood all over the bed, but believe it or not, Kline (who has already killed another friend's innocent wife after raping her) has delivered the babyh, which is nestled initshappy mother's arms. Kline has hung himself in the backyard -end of movie.

Tech credits are por, with very rough editing by the director. Leder's other credits include such junkers as "I Dismember Mama" and the inept 3-D opus "A-P-E" (aka "Attack of the Giant Horny Gorilla").

A movie from its time

[searchanddestroy-1 · 12 December 2023]

It is the typical movie from the gloomy seventies speaking of a gloomy period for the United States, the post Vietnam war syndrom, traumatic period for thousands of men and women, veterans and their relatives. This indie production seems to have been made without any problems with any executives in the Hollywood manner. Everything here is the reflection of the seventies, counter culture, depressing era. It is shocking, desperate, painful, and strangely well acted for this kind of stuff. Some awful scenes, for instance a rape one. It is short, and that's better because a bit too talkative for me. It is a psychotronic, exploitation feature, as you had by hundreds in those times.