Killer's Delight

Detective Sergent Vince De Carlo (James Luisi) and company are on the case of a vicious Serial Killer/Rapist. Can Psychologist Carol (Susan Sullivan) help, or will she become the killer's next victim? And what is with the killer's hilarious White Dude Afro?

Inspired by the case of serial killer Ted Bundy, "Killer's Delight" aka "The Dark Ride" is a rather dull Serial Killer tale from 1978 that doesn't offer much. If anything, it's more of a police procedural flick than a horror movie, as much of the violence occurs off camera. Sure, we get mutilated bodies, but we don't get a whole lot in the exploitation department-especially considering that they are from the aftermath, and not during the crime. Those hoping for the likes of "The Toolbox Murders" or "Maniac" will be very disappointed.

Fortunately, there is an impressive scene involving a woman trying to escape the killer that get's the tone right, and is quite suspenseful to boot. Also, John Karlen is quite effective as the killer, though his hilarious hairstyle (white guys with Afros are always worth a chuckle) is more than a bit distracting.

"The Dark Ride" is too routine and mediocre to really warrant a recommendation, as it lacks the proper exploitation elements, and is dated even by the standards of the time. Those looking for a better example should probably turn to "Don't Go In The House" and a few others instead, as this just doesn't cut it.

I'm surprised to see so many positive reviews here. Not that this is a bad film by any means, but I think that people are trying too hard to find significance and meaning in this somewhat dull crime flick. As has been mentioned in other reviews, much of this movie was allegedly inspired by the crimes of Ted Bundy. Yes, John Karlen's character (the killer) does torture and murder attractive young women, but the resemblance pretty much ends there. Bundy was a good looking charmer, while this guy is a creepy freak, plus, I don't recall any detective having his mistress murdered during an abortive attempt to snare Bundy. Add this to about another 100 inconsistencies, and you can see that there isn't a lot of commonality. The Hillside Stranglers or even the Zodiac had more in common with Karlen's character than Bundy.

Anyway, to me, this film is most effective when looked at as being a prototype for the buddy films of the 80s like Lethal Weapon, 48 Hours, et al. James Luisi is the tough cop, and for me, his unending tough guy posturing and attempts to be "the man" around women half his age came off as forced and eventually tiresome. I was more entertained by his sidekick Martin Speer, who was barely discernible amidst his forest of facial hair and feathered do. TV staple Susan Sullivan is adequate as Luisi's mistress, and the rest of the cast is generally competent.

Worth a look, and entertaining if one isn't expecting too much. I must say, the basketball scene between the 2 detectives is hilarious. Neither of them look like they had ever handled a ball before and the stilted. awkward gamesmanship is a hoot.

I came across this movie in a list of movies inspired by true crime cases. The inspiration for this film was the cases of Ted Bundy and Edmund Kempler.

The script is very simple, clearly having some influence by European films like 'Bird With The Crystal Plumage' or 'Black Belly of the Tarantula'. However, Maralyn Thoma doesn't make this mystery that complex, focusing more on the cat and mouse game between the killer and the detective.

Compared to most modern slick thrillers and horror movies, it is easy to consider this film dull with it's steady progression and lack of cheap fake scares. What this film is trying to achieve isn't cheap shocks but a slow sense of frustration and dread.

The killer is underdeveloped as a character for a simple reason, this film is from 1978. A lot of the information about serial killers, their psycho-pathology and victimology was still being developed at the time. Without the information we take for granted now, it was much better to keep the tension by detaching from the killer, making him a monster by mystery.

The actors in this film are giving their all. James Luisi is a very sympathetic, complicated protagonist, absorbed in this case and torn between his home life with his family, and his mistress, a psychologist who can give him his first clues on the nature of this kind of monster.

The girls playing the victims are very convincing in their naivety, their shock at being trapped and their fear being in the hands of a madman. They aren't mere cookie cut bodies or subtly being blamed for their victimization, with small action and dialog, they are made real and ordinary for us.

Oh, and also because it is a late seventies film, there has to be one lame, over sentimental song. That's just a given.

This is an overlooked film, and that's a pity. For a true horror maven, it is well worth watching.

"Killer's Delight" opens with the familiar statement that the story you're about to watch is based on true events. You don't need to be Hercule Poirot or Sherlock Holmes to figure out the events in question refer to the bloody killing spree of notorious US serial-killer Ted Bundy, mixed with a little bit of Ed "the Co-Ed Killer" Kemper. Like usual, many important details are changed out of respect for the real victims. The modus operandi of picking up hitchhikers and almost exclusively targeting young attractive girls is kept in place, but the locations and names are different. Remarkable here, though, is how the makers also replaced Bundy's iconic beige Volkswagen Beetle with an old yellow Ford Van.

I have a passion for horror/thriller movies based on true crimes, and appreciated "Killer's Delight" quite a lot, but it's obviously a cheap, amateurish, and largely improvised B-movie. There also isn't much of a plot. Crazed killer, with mommy issues, picks up young girls and brutally murders them. Obsessive police detective tracks his down, but he's always too late to prevent another tragic murder.

Just because "Killer's Delight" is so low budget, the film nevertheless comes across as a raw and often shocking thriller. The opening scene immediately sets the right tone, as a ramshackle old Ford van parks at the edge of cliff, and the driver nihilistically throws the naked body of his last victim into the deep. Don't know about you, but I've seen opening sequences that are far less attention-grabbing. There are more shocking moments throughout the film, including the death-struggle of the poor girl who works at the pool and the unexpectedly downbeat finale. Lead actor (and John Saxon lookalike) James Luisi does a decent job as the hardened cop, and receives good support as well, notably from Martin Speer, Susan Sullivan, John Karlen, and many incredibly pretty girls in tiny bikinis. It may not be a great movie, but "Killer's Delight" accurately captures the gritty, shameless, nasty flavors of 70s exploitation cinema, and that's why it comes recommended to my fellow fanatics of this era.

Killer's Delight is said to be based on the real life crimes of Ted Bundy, and that would seem to be an accurate assessment of the film as the killer in this film and the real life killer share many similarities; although the release of Killer's Delight and the apprehension of Ted Bundy happened around the same time. The majority of this film focuses on the investigation into the murders rather than the murders themselves and as such the film is not particularly graphic, but we do get to see how the killer targets his victims. The film takes place in a small town and several young girls have turned up dead. Detective De Carlo believes that all the murders were committed by the same killer and as he begins to investigate, discovers that all the girls were hitchhiking before they were killed. It soon becomes apparent to Detective De Carlo that the killer is not only continuing, but actually flaunting the murders under the police's noses. Things begin to heat up as the search for the killer becomes more desperate.

The film gets off to a promising start as we see a young hitchhiker kidnapped and killed, but then things slow down a bit as the police investigation takes central stage. It has to be said that there isn't a lot of tension featured in the film and it mostly just relies on the story and characters to pull it through, which does keep things interesting for most of the duration. The film is very much a product of the seventies; and the production values are surprisingly good and while I doubt that the film had an affluent budget to work from, it doesn't seem to be a low budget film either and I am a rather surprised that the film has vanished so far into obscurity. The film does become a bit tedious in places as it moves on and the final third can be a bit slow, which is a shame but the final climax is decent enough and the film does feature a fitting ending. Despite its obscurity, the film does have a DVD release and while I wouldn't recommend that anyone rushes out to purchase it; it is a decent enough watch if you can get your hands on a copy.