Guilty as Charged

This is a strange film. It is a black satire that reminds me of a cross between Roger Corman's "Black Scorpion", Wes Craven's "Swamp Thing" and Alfred Hitchcock's "Family Plot". The casting is eclectic with Rod Steiger, Lauren Hutton, Heather Graham, Isaac Hayes and Zelda Rubinsten and deserves an A. The acting, however, is uneven and gets a B. The story (we've been here before) is a C. Not much of the budget is on the screen. With better production values it would have been a very interesting movie. As it is, the production values gets only a D.

The look of the film is that of a poor man's direct-to-video. That's too bad. With more texture to cover the obvious staleness of the story (ex: Tim Burton's "Batman") this could have been a remarkable film. Still, it's worth a look even if it never reaches it's potential. I don't know if you can blame the budget or the director, but it just misses. Still, certain moments do transcend the film's problems. Rod Steiger, Isaac Hayes and Heather Graham make this film worth a look even if in the end it is a disappointment.

I really enjoyed this movie. Rod Steiger and Isaac Hayes give wonderful performances. Steiger plays Ben Killan (great name) a man who kidnaps paroled murderers and executes them in a homemade electric chair. In the middle of one execution the power goes out before the prisoner is dead and Ben has to finish him off with a gun. The movie has a great surprise ending.

This film spares no one: right wing death penalty advocates, bleeding heart liberals, politicians,self-righteous religious zealots and incorrigble criminals. That's what i loved about it: it skewers EVERYONE.It has absolutely fantastic sets and cinematography, with a distinct Dr Phibes quality to Steiger's underground lair. Heather Graham, looking impossibly young and cute, makes for an appealing heroine.Lyman Ward excels at playing a sleazeball. Isaac Hayes has some of the funniest moments as Steiger's demented henchman alongside Mitch Pileggi, who makes quite an impression as a snarling prisoner. Ricky Dean Logan is hilarious, especially in his introductory scene. And Rod Steiger, who always committed 100% of himself to every role, no matter how small the budget or strange the screenplay, should have been nominated for some sort of award because he really gives a magnificent performance here. He somehow manages to make his character funny, sad, sweet, righteous, warped and malevolent-- sometimes all in one scene.

This movie had nothing really all that exciting going for it although it is watchable. Has Rod Steiger and Heather Graham as the main stars. Has some well acted scenes but is basically nothing that you go, oh wow that was awesome. Mr. Steiger kidnaps prisoners on death row from local prisons where he has his own electric chair down in his basement. He takes matters into his own hands and puts prisoners to death. Has some dark comedy aspects as well but just nothing really tickled my fancy in this one. Slasher reviewer has mixed feeling on this one so you can make the decision on this flick but it's not going to be kept in my 2500 movies I have here at my house. Not in my collection but like I said that does not mean it's a bad movie. Just not for me.

This was one of my favorite movies growing up! This movie is how justice should be dispensed! Lol it stars the late great Rod Steiger and Isaac Hayes and the lovely Laura Hamilton. Rod Steiger was so good at this it was years before I realized it was him playing a major role😂. It is a must watch, it is hard to find. I finally got the chance to download it. Amazon used to have it but the license expired so they're trying to get it back. If you can catch this movie, it is an excellent black comedy. A lot of up-and-coming actors That weren't well known at the time, but well known now are in this. Commenter raegan_butcher said it best when they said Ron Steigers character somehow managed to be funny, sad, sweet, righteous, warped and malevolent-- sometimes all in one scene.😂 That description was so accurate LOL. Whenever I'm down and sad and just need a laugh, I watch this movie.