Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews

Glucedee It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

Siflutter It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Lachlan Coulson This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

moonspinner55 Handsome gym teacher living in a beachfront apartment has women trouble: they're drawn to him, but he's suffering from a mental block (blame it on Mommy) and freezes up before sex, leading to an outburst of violence. Tired, cheapjack serial killer sleaze from talented writer-director Curtis Hanson (re-released by Roger Corman a few years later as "The Arousers", with the addition of naked babes) hasn't enough going on in it. Tab Hunter apparently took on the leading role to show off his range (limited to begin with), but if he had hoped this low-grade junk would be his "Boston Strangler" he was mistaken. Hanson doesn't delve into depth of character or even provide much of a background for the killer; his work is that of a rank amateur. Hunter's coach is just a woman-hating psychopath fending off the affections of naked women, all of whom are humiliated by the camera. A depressing experience. * from ****

punishmentpark I was mostly curious how Curtis Hanson handled his debut feature film, but the exploitation genre has my dear attention as well - thusly, a good combination. 'Sweet kill' is partly a character study of a man who was somehow traumatized in his youth, but offers plenty of kills (not much blood, though) and nudity to be an exploitation flick as well.The writing is pretty good, showing early signs of Hanson's competence in that area. Things may appear to be happening rather haphazardly, but through all these random acts, the struggle of Eddie Collins is broadly illustrated; his fetish, his attempts at fighting off his dark side and the part that coincidence plays in his ultimate downfall - even if it not sure that he gets caught at all.This is pretty low budget, but the director made do with the littlest of means. The acting varies, Tab Hunter plays the lead reasonably well. A good 7 out 10.

The_Void It must have been hard to imagine in 1973 that the director of this low budget shock flick would go on to make one of the very best crime films of the nineties with LA Confidential, but indeed that was the case. Anyway, this was his first attempt at directing, and it's a rather lukewarm film. I never go into films like this expecting too much; generally these film were made with the intention of getting as many people into a theatre as possible and that isn't usually the best base for a great film. This one focuses on Eddie Collins, a disturbed man who gets into murdering women after one unsuccessful encounter and then ends up not being able to shake off the urge to do so. The film was obviously made on a shoestring budget and it does look very cheap. There's also rather too many sex scenes in the film which were obviously included to help sell the film, but actually end up making it all the more boring. Naturally the point of the film is to see the lead character butchering some women rather than any kind of character study, and that's really all we get. Still, Sweet Kill is not a total dead loss; it makes for an interesting watch and fans of low budget seventies exploitation will probably get a kick out of it.

Woodyanders Former 50's teen idol Tab Hunter gives a superbly chilling and convincing performance as Eddie Collins, a lonely, impotent and sexually frustrated high school gym teacher who was driven around the bend by his shameless whore mother who used to parade around naked in front of him as a little boy. Eddie viciously murders any lovely young lass who tries (and fails) to turn him on. Writer/director Curtis Hanson, who went on to win an Oscar for the terrific "L.A. Confidential," does an expert job of creating and sustaining a creepy, clammy, clinical tone for this luridly compelling portrait of homicidal madness and seething misogyny. Moreover, Hanson astutely nails the whole right-on groovy swingin' 70's zeitgeist, evokes a highly credible sense of everyday mundane reality and builds plenty of nerve-wracking tension which reaches a harrowing fever pitch in the terrifying final third. The abundant gratuitous distaff nudity, the seedy seaside Venice, California locations, the shockingly blunt'n'brutal violence and the profoundly unnerving conclusion all give this picture a raw, sleazy, unsettling edge that's mighty tough to shake. Nice supporting performances by Nadyne Turney as fed-up, long-suffering unhappy single gal Barbara, Isabel Jewell as a snoopy landlady, a pre-"Phantasm" Angus Scrimm as Jewell's husband, and longtime favorite 70's drive-in flick starlet Roberta Collins as a brassy call girl. Charles Bernstein's supremely spooky'n'shuddery score and Daniel Lacambre's crisp, polished cinematography are both up to par. The inspired casting of Tab Hunter in the warped lead qualifies as the film's masterstroke; Hunter's blandly handsome boy next door persona makes for the perfect front for the severe dementia bubbling just underneath the surface. An excellent and unjustly overlooked little nugget.