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There just aren't many films about psychotic folk-rockers, but this long thought-lost 1965 psychodrama blazes that trail. Schuyler Hayden portrays a mentally disturbed young musician who will stop at nothing to get what he wants. The film is a low-budget affair, but director James "THE SADIST" Landis and the soon-to-be-famous cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond have crafted an edgy portrait of narcissism run rampant.

Aside from the expressionistic B&W cinematography, Ronald Stein's pulsating rock 'n' roll score contributes nervous energy to the events on screen. The music is somewhat reminiscent of the great "orchestral rockabilly" score that accompanied the car chases in Robert Mitchum's THUNDER ROAD.

Like 1960's PRIVATE PROPERTY (which also disappeared from the marketplace in the mid-1960's), RAT FINK has been unearthed more than 50 years after its final drive-in theater engagement. It's great to have these long-unseen films resurface on Blu-ray.

This is a fun-enough teenage romp. I'd love to see this in widescreen, along with another release from United Screen Arts, ONE WAY WAHINE.

When the picture opened at two Seattle drive-in theaters, Raquel Welch appeared in person at both theaters one Saturday night. Of course, she was pretty unknown at that time. About a year later, ONE MILLION YEARS BC would thrust her onto the map forever. I wish I had attended one of those drive-in shows.

By most accounts, the film was shot as early as 1959. Given that, the film seems quite ahead of its time in the depiction of "teenage" sexuality. Stefanie Powers plays the standard "good girl" role, but there is a bit of dialog that suggests that she, too has already had sex. The Tom Laughlin character is sexually assaulted by a girl who is described as being only 17 or 18 (two characters differ as to her age). I'm old enough to have attended the various "teen" films from the late 1950's and early-mid 1960's, and this material is comparatively far ahead of its time. No Disney or Robert Radnitz films of the era dealt with youthful sexuality with such frankness. I found THE YOUNG SINNER to be quite interesting in that regard.

The Tom Laughlin character seems to be a bit of a template for the later Billy Jack persona.