Young Buck (character actor Judd Nelson) is depraved, demented, and mentally disturbed. Rejected from the Los Angeles Police Department on psychological grounds, this young lad has seemingly transformed from a once benign albeit afraid soul, to a psychotic serial killer. Now, Buck goes on an inevitable killing rampage as he picks his victims' names at random from a telephone directory. He calls and informs his victims ahead of time of their demises to-be before he enters their residencies and coerces the victims to participate in their own grisly deaths.
Enter Sam Dietz (Leo Rossi), a tough New York City police detective who's quickly being transferred to the L.A.P.D. Soon enough, Dietz has been assigned to track down this notorious serial killer. Dietz is to work with
his partner, Det. Bill Malloy (veteran actor Robert Loggia), who shows a lot less alacrity and more apathy than his younger counterpart, Det. Dietz. Eventually, as the body count rises, Buck has been dubbed the "Sunset Killer."
RELENTLESS is a tantalizing yet insipid thriller. There are tons of slow moving scenes in this movie, and the film doesn't offer any kind of novelty from the rest of the serial killer movies. Yes, there are profound moments in this movie. For example, the audiences plunge into the mind of Buck, seeing his past life in flashbacks as an abused child who had to partake in rigorous "boot camp" type activities, setup by his own strict father. In fact, Buck is so mentally insane that he often sees images of his late father in the mirror, telling him what to do. Judd Nelson deserves some approbation for tackling the difficult role of a mentally scarred serial mass murderer.
Another aspect of RELENTLESS that made the film slightly worthwhile to watch was the relationship between the two police detectives out to catch Buck, a.k.a. "The Sunset Killer." We see two different worlds conflict with each other as New York native Det. Dietz demonstrates a "let me at him" attitude, with plenty of intensity and anxiousness. On the other hand, Det. Malloy, who's a Los Angeles native feels that Det. Dietz is taking this case way too seriously. Malloy is more laid back, figuring that the press will blow over and the Sunset Killer will eventually disappear. The chemistry between the two police detectives is interesting, with the younger one, Dietz showing more enthusiasm and energy for catching this psycho. Meanwhile his older, more sardonic partner Det. Malloy doesn't want to pull any punches or put too much effort into solving this case. He also thought that many of what Dietz's statements were given were foolish. Malloy is admittedly lazy, letting other people do all the work for him.
RELENTLESS is not a one-of-a-kind thriller. It descends into cliche territory throughout most of this film, especially by the finale. This is not a very exciting movie with no true memorable moments. RELENTLESS is also relentlessly (no pun intended) boring at times, and it may not appeal to many moviegoers unless they have an interest in criminal psychology. Still, RELENTLESS was a satisfactory, though not a terrific effort from director William Lustig (MANIAC, MANIAC COP 2, UNCLE SAM). Although the performances throughout this film were well illustrated and persuasive, they were uninspired. Watching the two detectives argue with each other was fun, and Nelson did his best at portraying a serial killer.
RELENTLESS opened to brisk business at the box office, and it was understandable, due to this film's limited audience appeal. Next time, a thriller movie needs to offer a whole new horizon in order to grab viewers' attention.
RATING: ** out of ****.
