Check out the timely horror film ‘The COVID Killer’
The coronavirus pandemic made for a world-changing event that left a lot of people in danger in ways that far outstripped the virus itself. From jobs vaporizing into thin air and public transportation skidding to a halt, the world was essentially standing still. In the case of law enforcement, their job became simultaneously more dangerous yet exponentially more necessary. As violence spread just as fast as the virus did, director Jeff Knite had a story to tell.
His newest film The Covid Killer stands out in the endless sea of horror films being released these days. Not only for the simple fact that it was filmed during lockdown, but also for the fact that experiences like this surely happened in many places around the world at the height of lockdown.
All of these factors together made for an easy selection at this year’s Shockfest Festival, with Knite receiving the Silver Bullet award ahead of its December 10th showing. Superstar musician and filmmaker Rob Zombie took home the Shocker Award at the festival the previous year. As the film heads to all major platforms just in time for a nightmare before Christmas, let’s take a closer look into all the gory details of Covid Killer.
Pandemic sleuths
Set in New York at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, Covid Killer follows incompetent detective Will Jordan and his rookie partner Martina Pippen find themselves in a race against time to stop a serial killer taking advantage of Governor Cuomo’s mask mandate. By wearing a generic covid mask to hide his identity, the killer wreaks havoc across the city with Jordan and Pippen using everything they know to bring him to justice.
While The Covid Killer was both written and directed by Jeff Knite, he also stars in the film alongside Paugh Shadow, Jorge Gautier, Tony Diaz, and Johnny Careccia. The film was officially released in the US & Canada on Nov. 2.
Like the music fan he is, director Jeff Knite has not let his movie go without having top-notch music to match. The film has an original score by acclaimed composer Tasos Eliopoulos and a chilling soundtrack from upcoming indie artists Sinner Swing, Jay Doggs, and The Big Bamboo. The editors of the film’s trailer clearly had the star-studded sound team in mind as the tension rises to a climax rarely seen in movie trailers nowadays.
Bloody luck
One of the great tidbits we learned about the film was that it’s festival prospects were almost null due to the speed in which it was picked up by distribution company Gravitas Ventures. Oftentimes, new films are shown at festivals before their release to woo distributors and gain award nomination buzz. However, the director of the Shockfest Festival Jeffrey Macabre invited the film to be shown in all its bloody glory. It’s now fast on the festival circuit.
As the pandemic becomes a part of our daily lives and the economic recovery allows us to look back at all we went through, there is little doubt that stories like that of The Covid Killer will continue creeping up through the cracks of our lockdown memories. In the case of law enforcement, harrowing pandemic-era missions like that of Jordan and Pippen likely offer even more gore and heinous circumnavigations of lockdown protocols.
What other kinds of crimes do you think criminals got away with during the pandemic? Let us know in the comments!
