The Thrill Killers

The set-up for this one is simple enough: three violently insane goons escape from a mental institution, and go on a rampage, terrorizing people like unsuccessful actor Joe Saxon (Joseph Bardo) and his wife Liz (moll turned stripper turned actress Liz Renay). While this is going on, a sole psychopath (played by director / writer / producer Ray Dennis Steckler, using his "Cash Flagg" pseudonym) is busy racking up his own body count.

"The Thrill Killers" is an above average sleazy-B; if you measure it against other flicks in the Steckler filmography, you too may think that it's better than expected. It benefits from some decent performances. Gary Kent, Herb Robins (later, the writer / director of "The Worm Eaters"), and Keith O'Brien are a hoot as the creeps; O'Brien is so looney he thinks nothing of bringing a murder weapon that he's recently used into a public place. Steckler himself is likewise amusing. His other cast members include his then-wife Carolyn Brandt, Laura Benedict as sassy diner owner Linda, Ron Burr as the ill-fated Ron, Atlas King as early victim Dennis Kesdekian, and Titus Moede in dual roles (including a hilarious Hollywood sycophant at the party). Producers Arch Hall Sr. and George J. Morgan play themselves, and B-movie perennial Renay's own daughter Brenda has a bit at the party. Coleman Francis is the narrator.

"The Thrill Killers" does show that Steckler was capable of some competence now and again. It wastes little time getting going, wraps up in a tidy 70 minutes, and gives us an action-packed, exciting finale wherein "Cash Flagg" runs the cops a merry chase. It moves along to a jaunty jazz score by Andre Brummer, and features excellent cinematography by Joseph V. Mascelli. That scene where Flagg is in a hotel room with his next victim is a perfect example of this.

Well worth a viewing for fans of vintage exploitation.

Seven out of 10.

I only hired this film because there was a picture of someone chasing a girl with an axe on the cover. I like tacky, low budget films as they are often so poor they are funny but this was tedious and hard work to stay awake through.

I dug this film so much when I first saw it because it epitomizes what makes low budget exploitation good camp entertainment. It seems to be made made solely to exploit itself and does it's damndest to deliver. I like the b & w cinematography and the various cinematic devices used albeit some quite cliche. The camp and subversive elements are given to us hand in hand when serial killer Mort Click tells one of his female victims "People are no good" "I hate People!" "I'm going to kill you". Super cheesy chase at the end is the capper and, because it's slightly anti-climactic, only makes the exploitation motives more obvious therefore giving "The Thrill Killers" very high camp value. I still think it's an admirable and entertaining effort by a spirited and eccentric auteur.

Fun cheapie in black and white, fairly well photographed. You're lucky if (like me and others out here in Oakland CA) you got to see it in a theater with Steckler himself and his cronies (including the weary Will Viharo) running through the crowd with axes on cue with the "hypnovision" process on the screen. Weird murder movie plot similar to the later "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" (which owes this movie a lot) has a family of maniacs and their friends on a killing spree in a desert ranch area (looks like somewhere up Coldwater Canyon). The finale has director Steckler on horse evading a cop on a motorbike who can't seem to catch up! Priceless.

I may as well admit something right up front: I will never give a totally negative review to a Ray Dennis Steckler film. I LOVE Steckler's films! They're so corny and cheesy, full of good intentions and a lot of fun. Thrill Killers is no exception. Though it is, by far, Steckler's darkest and most serious film, it's still a wild and weird good time.

Steckler himself plays Mad Dog, a psychopath who roams the streets of L.A., killing at random and often for no reason whatsoever. Mad Dog's brother, in the meantime, has escaped from an insane asylum with a couple of buddies. Also in the meantime, sexy Liz Renay has an argument with her struggling actor husband and flees into the hills to see her sister, who runs a roadside diner. Still with me? The psychos and the sexpot all meet up at the diner, and of course, all hell breaks loose.

There's some really great stuff here: Carolyn Brandt is chased through an empty house by an ax-wielding maniac whilst the radio plays the story of Little Red Riding Hood. The world's phoniest looking decapitation is also here, as well as posters of Stecklers previous films plastered all over the walls of the diner. There's also a great chase scene, with Steckler making a run for it on horseback! But not before Liz punches him right in the face and knocks him on his bony butt in a scene that made me laugh out loud. It even has a happy ending.

This film is pure Steckler, which will attract as many people as it will repel. You either like his films or you don't...and I love them. This is one of his very best.