Idiot-Deluxe
Starring Arch Hall Jr. from 1963 comes "The Sadist"! This strikingly effective, low-budget, thriller, proved to be the swansong of Arch Hall Jr.'s acting career and yet compared to all the rest of his movies, The Sadist is remarkably good - for an Arch Hall Juniour movie. This film is an entertaining foray, a fever-dream on celluloid you might say - into the demented mind of a teen-age spree-killer, by the name of Charlie Tibbs and his ditsy girlfriend Judy; a couple of troubled-teens who out looking for cheap thrills and raising hell where ever they go. The films two antagonist's are loosely-based on the real-life, teen-age, spree-killer, Charlie Starkweather (and his girlfriend Caril Ann Fugate) who made headlines some five to six years earlier in 1957 and 1958.The movie takes place entirely on the premises of a secluded, family-owned and operated scrap-yard, somewhere in the hills of southern California. It's here where a trio of school teachers (2 men, 1 woman), on their way to an L.A. Dodger's baseball game, are having car trouble and to their extreme misfortune, they sputter ill-fated into an eerily silent and seemingly unattended scrapyard - a decision which will have tragic consequences. Though the stranded trio don't know it, their silently being stalked by the likes of a psychopathic killer and within minutes of their arrival their confronted by a loathsome and remorseless killer, who constantly keeps them in check with his Colt 45 (and he has a hunting knife as well) pistol, a steady stream of threats, which are punctuated with sadistic laughter and an endless arsenal of grins and scowls (which for me, is the best part of the movie). For the next hour and half Charlie Tibbs (and to a much lesser extent his air-headed, little girlfriend "Judy", who's his loyal accomplice to the end) make the lives of the three hapless school teachers a living hell, as well as a nightmare.The Sadist is driven along by two primary aspects, firstly and all too obviously, by the menacing, gun-toting, presence of Charlie Tibbs, a spree-killer whose perpetually grinning and laughing at his victims. Secondly and in hushed tones, there's a great sense of tension that's stirred by the two remaining teachers, who are frequently plotting and strategizing under their breath, on just how to manipulate the situation to their favor. These tension-laden scenes, loaded with many a pensive stare, tend to create a fluctuating undercurrent of additional tension, as you listen to the inner-working of their minds at play, desperately, yet discretely, as they try to hatch a plan against their psychotic tormentor, one that will either kill or incapacitate the wretched Mr. Tibbs. Unfortunately for them, few -if any- of their idea's work out to their advantage, as they buy time, by pretending to fix-up a car that Charlie-boy and his girl are desperately wanting to use (so they can drive happily off into the sunset?). While their tinkering away Tibbs keeps an eye on them a short distance off. The grin of Tibbs/Arch Hall Jr. is as distinctive, as it is goofy looking and his expressions often provide a strong sense comedy, to this otherwise completely unfunny movie.The finale is quite exciting and eventful, one that's filled with: peals of piercing yells and screams, blurred vision, several salvo's of deadly gun-fire, an inadvertent shooting, a car driven by maniac - one that's kicking up huge clouds of dust in the desert, abandoned ruins, hazardous pits and lot's of rattlesnakes. Ultimately the film has a very exciting and satisfying ending.The Sadist is a great film (for Arch Hall Jr. standards) and despite there being several obvious disadvantages going for it, it seems to somehow be completely unhindered by them. Those disadvantage's are, 1: It's small "B-List" cast 2: A shoe-string budget 3: Being narrow in scope "geographically" speaking, with it's perceptible lack of variety in terms of different locations 4: It's "an Arch hall Jr. movie"!!!! Which in all fairness, when speaking of The Sadist, is less a disadvantage compared to his previous movies, of which all are distinctively terrible.On more technical matters and what is perhaps the most striking aspect of The Sadist, is it's stark and strikingly effective black in white photography, which is the work of Vilmos Zsigmond, at the time a young cinematographer, who, for his great expertise with the camera, would eventually go on to win an academy award. Musically speaking the film is sparsely (but effectively) underscored by the prolific film scoring team of Bert Schefter and Paul Sawtell, their terse, often staccato brand of music effectively fuels the film with additional surges of angst and energy - especially during the finale.If you ask me, once you've summed everything up at the end, against all odds, I think they -- pulled it off. Because I think The Sadist is as entertaining a film, that it's ever-so-humble production would allow, that and with a little luck, it all simply gels together well - creating a stark, minimalist, slice of entertainment - AND WITH THAT Arch went out on something of a high-note!
Scott LeBrun
Believed to be the first film production inspired by real-life killers Charles Starkweather and Caril Fugate, the low budget effort "The Sadist" is a fine example of its kind: tense, affecting, sweat-inducing, and very well acted. Writer & director James Landis creates palpable suspense, and with the assistance of a capable crew (including cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond), gets a lot of use out of their desolate settings. This is one film that looks very good in black & white. One genuinely gets involved with these characters; our protagonists are all sympathetic and our antagonist is one hell of a dangerous psycho.Three schoolteachers - Ed Stiles (Richard Alden), Carl Oliver (Don Russell), and Doris Page (Helen Hovey) - are on their way to a ball game when car troubles force them to pull into an isolated service station. Nobody seems to be around - that is, until Charlie Tibbs (Arch Hall Jr.) shows up, with his girlfriend Judy Bradshaw (Marilyn Manning) in tow. Charlie, feeling empowered by the gun he wields, enjoys dominating and intimidating the helpless trio. With little hope of any Cavalry riding to their rescue, they must rely on their wits to survive this situation.Hall Jr. doesn't just dominate his victims, he dominates the whole movie, in an endlessly amusing and disconcerting performance, as he mugs, sneers, and hisses his dialogue, while also giggling in a manner inspired by Richard Widmark in "Kiss of Death". You wonder how Ed, Carl, and Doris are ever going to get out of this, and you do feel for them. Russell has one particularly distressing scene where he begs for his life, as Charlie has imposed a time limit on him. Ed is clearly the one person who stands the best chance of taking Charlie on should he drop his guard, or the gun, but he doesn't see an opening. Lovely Hovey (Hall Jr.'s real life cousin, in her only movie appearance) is good, but the slinky Manning is just as watchable, not having very much in the way of spoken dialogue but often whispering ideas to Hall Jr., encouraging him with childlike glee.Directed with great efficiency by Landis, "The Sadist" has an incredible atmosphere and you can really see the sweat on peoples' foreheads here. You keep waiting and waiting for Charlie to get his comeuppance, resulting in a rather unexpected denouement.Eight out of 10.
