SWITCH KILLER (aka TRANS-AMERICAN KILLER)
Written and Directed by Mack Hail
Featuring Alixandra Agar, Jennifer Autry, Cara Jo Basso,
Eric Bishop, Susan Blonsky and Monique Chachere
2004
Lion's Gate Films

If you know anything about horror films, the concept of a transvestite maniac isn't so unusual. After all, real-life serial killer Ed Gein used to like to get dressed up in a suit he made from the flesh of dead women and get down like that. Who could forget Norman Bates slicing up Vivian Leigh while dressed as his own (dead) mama? Or Leatherface putting on lipstick? Or Buffalo Bill tucking his willis between his legs?
"Switch Killer" sets out to do all these fellows one better. The plot is pretty simple: Bobby (Eric Bishop) and his girlfriend Jamie (Cara Jo Basso) have a fight, she breaks up with him and he beats the ever living fuck out of her. She bails to Las Vegas to become a lesbian AND a stripper, and it's not long before her lapdancing silicone buddies are getting bumped off one by one by a not-so-mysterious murderer.

The trouble with "Switch Killer" (or "Trans-American Killer" as it was formerly known) is that the audience knows right away who the murderer is. Perhaps we can't tell right away that it's Bobby dressed in drag, but it's obvious that he's a dude, yet he seems to be able to fool every single man and woman he comes into contact with in the film. Even when he confronts Jamie at the end, at first she has no idea it's him and thinks this is a female. We don't buy it for a second, even though we know better. Suspending my disbelief was really really difficult.

Writer-Director Mack Hail himself is no stranger to committing violent on screen acts against strippers; he starred in the depraved microbudget gore fest "Nutbag" a few years ago. If you're into seeing naked women chopped up for no good reason, check that one out. People who label "I Spit On Your Grave" as anti-woman have obviously never checked out "Nutbag". It makes "I Spit" look like "Thelma And Louise". However, Hail has definite chops as a filmmaker and "Switch Killer" should find a nice home on late-night cable television. It's got enough stripping scenes and bloody killings to whet any teenage boy's appetite. However, for the GLBT set, it'll appear almost offensively rooted in the dark ages. I wonder if they changed the original title of the film because they were afraid of upsetting transgendered activist groups/

Not to say that I didn't find anything to enjoy about "Switch Killer". It's not a big surprise to the audience when Jamie finds out Bobby is going around dressed as a woman, killing her stripper buddies (the bitchiest of whom gets stabbed to death AND hit by a train!)...but there IS a decently shocking reveal that goes along with it, which includes some interestingly done prosthetic effects. I also enjoyed the occasional use of humorous dialogue ("you wanna take a stab at this body?"). The final showdown takes place at a pool party, just like in "Nightmare On Elm Street 2" (another film that doesn't exactly show love for alternate lifestyles), and contains an excellent chainsaw sequence that alone to me was worth the price of a rental. It was definitely my reward for finishing the movie, and put a smile on my face.
Oddly enough, the DVD doesn't contain any bonus features, however, as soon as the movie ends there is a music video that is basically a condensed version of the entire movie. It features all the nudity, action and violence, playing like the "highlights" incase you didn't wanna tune in for the actual game. And hey, sports fans, stick around after the credits for a "wet t-shirt contest" scene that was deleted from the film.

(January 2005)