There’s something about having the three main characters be quite unlikeable, that takes what could be a pretty gnarly concept and somehow makes just palatable enough; like, if you’re not rooting for any character, you can just sit back and wallow in the sleaze and violence of what is a surprisingly entertaining procedural.And why are the protagonists so bad? Well, you’ve got a detective who cannot talk to victims, I’m not sure his muttered death-to-criminal threats are really that comforting, and who is happy the threaten suspects, a rapist who…is a rapist and a weird, sad, paranoid bomber. It’s very much b-movie trash with a plot that sounds like it should be a joke, but is actually serious about its story of a killer detonating bombs around the city, the rapist who may have eye-witnessed a bomb planting whilst in the middle of assaulting a hospital patient and the cop who wants to use the rapist’s ID to catch the bomber. And I can’t lie; the performances are all pretty good. Chuck Conners easily gives aggressive weirdo with his massive frame and dead-eyed stare which is perfect for the killer, Vince Edwards is playing with enough head-down eyes-up intensity to Dirty Harry his way through his cop act and Neville Brand gives creepy with callous joie de vivre.Most definitely exploitative, somewhat absurd and absolutely sleazy and probably unpleasant with its unnecessary nudity and surprising gore. But it’s also a bit of a wild ride that its hard not to have fun with if it doesn’t manage to turn you off.
"if you were anything but a cop, I'd be out there lookin' for you."Beloved B.I.G. at his most gritty, cynical and macho; a film very much unlike any of his others. It offers some exquisite character work, which makes up for its sometimes bland visuals and grotesque fascination with rape.A trio of deeply repulsive men lead the cast. Chuck Connors is the thin-lipped bomber, prefiguring Michael Douglas' fed up jagoff in Falling Down. While his backstory isn't that compelling, his hilarious everyday interactions with the public are a delight. I could have watched a whole film of him just being a violent pedant, intimidating litterbugs and drivers who don't respect the crosswalk. He's never been an actor close to my heart, (though I love him in The Horror at 37,000 Feet,) but this changed my perspective. He's very self-aware and self-deprecating in the role, grim but having a great time.Vince Edwards, as the only-slightly-less-insane cop on his trail, is the real lead of the film. I totally bought him as a loose cannon, not only because I've watched him ten times in Do Not Fold, Spindle, Or Mutilate but because he has that loudmouth talking thumb quality that feels so lived in and right.Rounding out the trio is greasy Neville Brand as the serial rapist Vince must collaborate with in order to stop Chuck. While the film goes much further than is necessary to illustrate the horror of his crimes, Brand almost makes up for it by playing his pervert with as much subdued glee as Connors. His final scene, jacking off in a pool house to nude home movies of his wife, is comically explosive.Bert Gordon is in full auteur mode with this one, doing his best to fit in with the sleazy 70's. He wrote, filmed, produced and directed, doing all four adequately, though the film might have looked better with someone else behind the camera. He does his best to cram as much nudity into the film as possible, and unfortunately much of it is during rape scenes. While the violence and repulsiveness of these men justifies some of it, other moments are eye-rollingly gratuitous. Yet the politics are not cut and dry. A bombing of a feminist group turns out to be a red herring. A later hilarious montage shows Vince casting a net for Brand by setting up stings to collect the city's rapists, a task he finds absurdly easy, resulting in way too many suspects. This is a film about men at their worst. Illustrative, but not exactly innovative. If you can stand to have it reiterated for the millionth time, the film's dark sense of humor and great performances make it worthwhile.Severin's blu is a jam-packed delight, featuring a rare commentary from House of Psychotic Women's Kier-La Janisse who goes into great detail about the NYC bombings that inspired the story. Actress Cynthia McAdams (Chuck's ex-wife in the film,) gives a delightfully gossipy interview about her career. And youngest Gordon daughter Patricia recounts fond memories of growing up in the movies with her dad, including an amazing tidbit I had never heard before-- about the lookout at the Watergate fucking up his job because he was enraptured by a late night broadcast of Attack of the Puppet People. If not for Bert I. Gordon, Nixon might have had a full second term.
Lurid sleaze-fest from filthmaster Bert I. Gordon has Los Angeles detectives trying to track down a serial rapist who may know the identity of a mentally disturbed bomber. Neville Brand is the rapist, and Chuck Connors is the Bomber who walks around L.A. scolding people with shitty manners before blowing shit up. Schools, hospitals, grocery stores, diners, Hotels, yellow motorcycles with side cars—no one on the streets are safe from brutal rape or bloodbath bombings in this lean, mean, carnival of crazy exploitation jam.
