Kalifornia (1993)

A journalist duo go on a tour of serial killer murder sites with two companions, unaware that one of them is a serial killer himself.

Director:

Dominic Sena

Writers:

Stephen Levy (story), Tim Metcalfe (story),

Stars:

Brad Pitt, Kathy Larson, David Milford

3 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Brad Pitt	...	Early Grayce
Kathy Larson	...	Teenage Girl (as Catherine Larson)
David Milford	...	Driver
David Duchovny	...	Brian Kessler
John Zarchen	...	Peter
David Rose	...	Eric
Michelle Forbes	...	Carrie Laughlin
Tommy Chappelle	...	Old Man
Juliette Lewis	...	Adele Corners
Judson Vaughn	...	Parole Officer
James Michael McDougal	...	John Diebold (as J. Michael McDougal)
Patricia Sill	...	Carol
Brett Rice	...	Police Officer
Marisa Raper	...	Little Girl
Bill Crabb	...	Middle Aged Farmer (as Bill Crabbe)

Storyline

Brian Kessler, a journalist researching serial killers, and his photographer girlfriend Carrie set out on a cross-country tour of the sites of the killings. Sharing the ride and their expenses are Early Grayce, a paroled white trash criminal, and his girlfriend Adele. As the trip progresses, Early begins to appear more and more unstable, and Brian and Carrie begin to fear that they may have a real-life killer in the back seat of their car.

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Plot Keywords:

killer | serial killer | journalist | cross country | murder | 

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Taglines:

fear never travels alone

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Genres:

Crime | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence, and for sexuality and language

Details

Official Sites:

MGM

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 September 1993 (USA)

Also Known As:

Kalifornia - A halál nem utazik egyedül

Filming Locations:

87520 US Highway 66, Amboy, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$9,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$2,395,231 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, Viacom Productions, Propaganda Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min 118 min (unrated)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The locations where the serial killer events take place are related to the names of the actors in the movie. Lewiston Ranch, Mt. Juliet, TX (Juliette Lewis); Forbes, TN (Michelle Forbes; Davidson Mine, Dew Cove, NV (David Duchovny); Bradbury Textile Warehouse in Pittsburgh, PA (Brad Pitt).

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Goofs

The foursome begins the journey in Atlanta (The Georgia Dome is visible during the Breakfast Cereal Conspiracy conversation). After they've traveled 480 miles, Atlanta landmarks are still visible outside the car (Equitable building, Spaghetti Junction, etc)

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Quotes

Early Grayce: Got them both on the dead run.
Adele Corners: No! No, no, no Early!
Early Grayce: Come on, momma.
[Walks over to Brian who is standing over the wounded cop]
Early Grayce: Tell me that don't hurt. Here.
[Hands Brian a gun while pointing another one at his head]
Brian Kessler: What?
Early Grayce: Gotta put that crippled dog out of his misery. You wanna know about it, you gotta do it, son. Shoot him. Come on, lay it on in there. Come on, mean boy. Come on, mean boy. Do it! Shoot him! Shoot the dog! Time to live, boy. Shoot him. Come on. Go! Go, mean boy.
[...]

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Connections

Featured in Siskel & Ebert: True Romance/The Ballad of Little Jo/Kalifornia/The Joy Luck Club/The Real McCoy (1993)

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Soundtracks

"Strong Enough"
Written by Sheryl Crow, David Ricketts, Kevin Gilbert, Bill Bottrell,
David Baerwald, Brian MacLeod
Performed by Sheryl Crow
Courtesy of A&M Records, Inc.

User Reviews

Kalifornia with a capital "K"

I just got done watching "Kalifornia" on Showtime for the fourth time since I first saw it back in July of 2001. You would think that with the recent wave of serial killer films, that "Kalifornia" would be amongst some of the earlier films worthy of mention but hasn't. Perhaps if this film had been released sometime between like 1996-1999, maybe it might have been more successful. In my opinion, "Kalifornia" is much different from most serial killer films released during the late 1990s. It has an almost completely different atmosphere from most of today's serial killer films like "Seven" or "The Bone Collector". Many serial killer films have shown a killer but that person is always behind a mask or we never see enough of them to actually learn anything about them. "Kalifornia" is a film that actually tries to break through that barrier and actually understand the criminal mind. It tries to answer questions like "why do they do the things they do? Is it because of something that happened in their past? Does it make them feel superior or powerful? Or do they do it because they like the thrill of the kill?" These are some of the things that "Kalifornia" tries to answer but also leaves room for us to try and figure things out for ourselves. Brad Pitt makes an everlasting impression as Early Grayce. When we first meet Early in the beginning of the film, we see that he is obviously one disturbed individual. When we first see him, it's late at night. Early is possibly drunk. We then see him pick up a rock, throw it off a bridge, and it later lands on the windshield of a passing car. Pitt is fierce in this film. It is always good to see him when he plays psychos or really bad people. It's funny that this would later lead him play a true loon like in "12 Monkeys" and that he would be on the other end of the spectrum in David Fincher's "Seven".