Again with the all star cast. Again with Lee Marvin & Angie "Has Ellen Barkin Seen Me?" Dickinson. Again with cool beyond words.
The Killers is based on a short story by Ernest Hemingway wherein a guy's waiting in his hotel room to be killed. Then two guys bust in and plug him—the end. It was an unusual tale for Hemingway since there were no bullfights or fish to be found and it was done in a hard-boiled style more suited to Raymond Chandler.
This one was directed by Don Siegel and should not be confused with the 1946 film—which is supposed to be great noir but I don't think is even out on video, unfortunately. Both films take Hemingway's story and expand on it to question who the guy in the room was. The '46 film introduced us to Burt Lancaster, whose motives were sought out by an insurance investigator.
And then there's Siegel's... This was 1964, baby. Bold color, bongo music, great acting, gritty gangsters, rough & tumble directing, and hip, baby, real hip.
We've got John Cassavetes getting rubbed out at the beginning by Marvin and his partner, the unflappable and highly aerobic Clu Gulager. Cassavetes takes his fate too readily and Marvin is intrigued, so he and Gulager investigate—who had the contract and why did they want him dead.
Their search introduces us to such greats as Claude Akins and Norman Fell and allows Marvin and Gulager to kick much ass in a completely hilarious way. You think Pulp Fiction's Jules & Vincent were a pair? Wait until you see Gulager cleaning his ever-present sunglasses with the sweat from Norman Fell's head.
Unintentional humor comes from Ronald Reagan (in his last film) as the head crook—a role he would reprise in 1980—saying, "I approve of larceny [but] homicide is against my principles."
The Killers was originally intended to be shown on television but was deemed too violent and released theatrically—as if that isn't recommendation enough.
You might have a hard time finding this—locally it can be rented at Thomas Video—but your search will not be in vain, I promise you.