Sadist

Rating:
Summary: Very surprised!
Review: I'd heard about this movie many years ago from Sinister Cinema and wondered what it was like. Knowing that it starred Arch Hall from the laughably bad "Eegah", I didn't know how to accept its praises. After seeing it, I am still shocked that a "studio" responsible for something so awful, could also produce something this good within the same year! Arch Hall is everything the other reviewers claims he is, and the movie delivers suspence and tension from start to finish. The only reason I'm giving it 4 stars out of 5, is that I envisioned it to be more of a road-trip film... instead of ALL the action taking place in one central location.

Rating:
Summary: Very surprised!
Review: I'd heard about this movie many years ago from Sinister Cinema and wondered what it was like. Knowing that it starred Arch Hall from the laughably bad "Eegah", I didn't know how to accept its praises. After seeing it, I am still shocked that a "studio" responsible for something so awful, could also produce something this good within the same year! Arch Hall is everything the other reviewers claims he is, and the movie delivers suspence and tension from start to finish. The only reason I'm giving it 4 stars out of 5, is that I envisioned it to be more of a road-trip film... instead of ALL the action taking place in one central location.

Rating:
Summary: TEETH GRINDING TERROR!
Review: Like other's who have seen this movie (more than two decades ago) it stands out in your mind like a close family tragedy would! It took me along time to finally find out what the title of this movies was (original title was "Profile of Terror") since there were no key actor's in it and the movie was a low budget flick. I know for sure anyone interested in horror or thriller type movies' will also agree this is one movie you won't soon(if ever) forget because of the tenacity of it. Check it out and see what you think.......closest thing to actually being victimlized in real life. Arch Hall Jr. is absolutley terrorizing in his role as crazed killer Charlie Tibbs, and although looney girlfriend Judy (played by Marilyn Manning) doesn't say much in the film 90 plus minutes but she doesn't have to it show's throughout the film. And although some claim none of the good people live isn't true and the way this thriller ends will leave the sound in your mind for longtime.

Rating:
Summary: Another overlooked entry in the psycho killer genre
Review: Normally a movie with a title such as The Sadist will get my horror glands salivating, but the prospect of watching Arch Hall, Jr., trying to act for an hour and a half inspired a morbid fear all its own in my soul; I think those who've seen Eegah! can understand my dilemma. Fear not, friends, for Arch Hall, Jr., does not - I repeat, does not - play the guitar or sing in this movie. He does try to act, unfortunately, but this is as close to a good performance as he would ever have. Hall plays Charles Tibbs, a blood-thirsty psycho enjoying the thrills of an interstate killing spree alongside his childlike girlfriend Judy (played by Marilyn Manning, yet another Eegah! alumnus). The character of Tibbs is loosely based on real-life killer Charles Starkweather. On this particular day, a trio of schoolteachers off to enjoy a day of baseball at Dodger Stadium end up rolling snake-eyes in the crap shoot of fate. Their car breaks down on the way, and they end up at the salvage yard of death, a place under new, albeit temporary management - one Charles Tibbs. So begins an afternoon of terror, horror, and silly-looking grimacing on the face of Arch Hall, Jr., obviously upset about the complete lack of Arch and his Archers performances in the film.

Our three teachers are just normal people (although the female of the group is about the sweetest and most lovely little school marm I've ever seen); they continually prove their lack of heroism by the things they do and do not do. Nothing happens that would be considered sadistic in today's world, but I can see how this movie could have been somewhat shocking to the audiences of its day (1963). Arch Hall, Jr., was known for playing nice guys who also happened to sing (badly) in the movies, so The Sadist marked a 180 degree turn in his film-making career at this time. Hall puts a lot into his effort, perhaps too much. All of the grimacing and Ernest T. Bass-like diction seems a little silly after a while, but he does manage to look and act like a psycho killer. He also does some things that might catch viewers off guard. The Sadist does not explicitly follow the standard "psycho killer" cinematic formula, and this fact more than any other makes The Sadist a movie worth seeing. Excellent cinematography also plays a role in this film's success; this really is a stark and troubling film that has never gotten the attention it deserves. It is not the best of the genre, but it is a more than respectable entry in the canon.

Rating:
Summary: Grade A - Crazy B Action Flick
Review: THE BAD - They did not use experienced actors and it shows.

THE GOOD - More entertaining then "Bad Lands" and much more watchable then "Natural Born Killers"! More memorable then both. The non-actor Arch Hall Jr. out-shines and out-psychos Martin Sheen and Woody Harrelson in the same role and makes them both look tame. This film has great black and white photography and a clustraphobic, psychotic feel. Fun, tense, engrossing, crazy, funny, violent and suspenseful from beginning to end. You will find yourself yelling at the characters... Great crisp clear print and very good sound.

Why did they stop manufacturing this great DVD?

Rating:
Summary: Not your typical Arch Hall Jr. flick
Review: The first time I saw Arch Hall Jr. was in the infamous EEGAH which my wife and I enjoyed as a B movie flick with a lot of chuckles. As soon as the movie was over I immediately began to search for more movies that featured Arch with the hopes of the same type of entertainment. We found The Sadist on the rental shelves and watched in total shock as Arch Hall delivered a brilliant and totally convincing performance as an evil and heartless bully terrorizing your everyday normal people. Arch did a great job acting in this flick and should be given his dues. It's a shame that someone didn't notice his talent in this type role and cast him in something similar later in his career.

Rating:
Summary: Great great picture
Review: The sadist realy surpriced me when I saw itm, kinda like how Night of the living dead surpriced me when I first saw it. Both films are well made even if the have a realy low budget and both don't stick to movie formulas and cliches. Only thing wrong with it is the crappy tag line: Before there was Jason, before there was Freddy there was the Sadist, pretty lame and the other thing is a very B-movie prologue. Other than that I give this flick a full house.

Rating:
Summary: "I will make them suffer as I have sufferd!"
Review: These are the words of a sadist. This Story is actually based on the true crime spree of Charlie Starkweather. If ever a film has shocked me this is the one. Just when you thought is he really going to do that? He does! There is no other film quite like "The SADIST"! I highly recommend this very violent cult classic! I also recommend The Thrill Killers & The Hitch-Hiker.

Rating:
Summary: Pretty freakin' intense for its day...
Review: This film must have surprised a lot of people back in '63... it was pretty nihilistic for its day, and is still pretty potent stuff even now. Bestial thug Arch Hall Jr. and his dumb girlfriend hold some teachers hostage at an isolated garage, forcing them at gunpoint to fix a car so they can continue their killing spree (based on the Charlie Starkweather case). Arch - who was being groomed by his dad to be some kind of blonde Elvis or something - radiates menace and acts like a Neanderthal as he takes his time killing off the captives. Arch was goofy and silly in such films as _Eegah!_, but he's nothing like that here. The intensity doesn't let up as the hopeless situation becomes even more hopeless - so hopeless, in fact, that, unlike most of these kind of films, you can't even count on all the good guys making it out okay. The film sticks pretty closely to real time, so the tension doesn't let up. Yeah, it's cheap (although it looks great - Vilmos Zigmond did the cinematography and he's one of the best ever - and, as a great bonus, he provides a commentary track on the DVD), and some of the acting is a bit overdone, maybe, but even today most filmmakers wouldn't have the guts to put out a rulebreaker like this one, and probably wouldn't do a better job with ten times the budget.

Rating:
Summary: SURPRISE! THIS IS A GREAT MOVIE!
Review: Well, THE PSYCHO is a better title. I got this flick thinking it would be full of SO BAD IT'S GOOD laughs. After all, I have just seen WILD GUITAR, (...), by Hall Jr. But he is very convincing in this role. Yes, he's still not [good], but this is a one dimensional character, and he's good in this regards. This movie reminds me of a drama on Richard Boone's dramatic series in the early 60s: WALL TO WALL WAR. How good is Arch Hall Jr. I want his victims to GET THAT [VILLAIN]!! The other acters are excellent, and I read that one of the crew had a part in THE DEER HUNTER. This is an unknown gem: get it!