The Mad Bomber

This is probably the only decent film that Bert I. Gordon ever did in his career. The story film is full of tension as we see the protagonist, Geronimo Minelli, not only hunting down the bomber, but he must also try to save the life of the creepy rapist who witnessed his second bombing. Vince Edwards does a pretty good job playing Minelli and Chuck Connors is good as Dorn, the title bomber. Connors really shows how much he really wants to get back at the people he feels has wronged him, and goes about his "work" with such cold, unemotional efficiency. However, Neville Brand steals the film as the rapist. Brand showed why he was one of the more popular villains in film with his disturbing performance. Its a shame that this picture isn't shown on television anymore.

Released in most cities by Jerry Gross company Cinemation as POLICE CONNECTION in 1973, this violent action film centers a man (Chuck Connors) who's daughter overdosed on drugs. So he plants bombs on places that did him wrong and the only person who witness him is a psycho rapist/killer (Brand).

Vince Edwards play a mean cop who is on the trail of the bomber and the rapist. This film is on over 10 different video labels under the original title THE MAD BOMBER, but all of them are TV print. You are missing out on a gruesome human explosition, rape scene, nudity, and even Brand doing the nasty by himself!!! Very sick film, suprised Bert I. Gordon who made lots of classic Sci-fi made this.

I don't know why I resisted seeing this movie for so long. I think it's because I thought that the plot description was too dull and pedantic for a great Bert I. Gordon experience. I thought that it sounded like a routine police actioner that Mr. BIG must have directed when he needed to make a car payment. Well, I was completely wrong. Maybe not about the car payment, but certainly about the movie. Gordon has delivered one of the most depraved, callous, stupefying images of Los Angeles ever committed to celluloid. And boy is it hilarious.

It pre-figures "Falling Down" and is a thousand times more satisfying. An almost unrecognizable Chuck Connors plays the most angry, righteous, and hateful in LA. His daughter has died of a drug overdose, and like most Angelenos, he chooses to blame the town for his bad luck. This performance is so brave, so unaffected and balls out, that I suspect Chuck Connors may be one of the most unappreciated actors of the 70s. That, or he was completely whacked out of his head during filming. This guy runs through Los Angeles looking exactly like the kind of guy who would plot the doom of society. Hell, his eyebrows look like they could jump off his head and eat a person. This is one intense looking dude.

Connors has been planting bombs around the city and at one target he's seen by a virulent rapist whose just trying to grab another victim. What Bert I. Gordon does with this outline is unexpected and wonderful. He shows the daily existence of these cretins. Connors goes around with a chip on his shoulder bigger than his actual shoulder. Only in a Mr. B.I.G. movie would you see a rampaging lunatic shop for his food before he flips out on a cashier at a Ralph's grocery store for not providing proper service. The rapist is also shown in his private places. Like when he masturbates to soft-core porn of his wife! And it's not like she's gone or dead or anything. This middle-aged, puffy housefrau just likes to keep her lovin' hubby happy.

Despite working with a restrictive budget, Gordon manages some oddly contrived but surprisingly effective explosion scenes. Especially wonderful is the first one at a high school with plenty of young victims. There's a hilarious scene where Connors infiltrates a meeting of feminists only to plant a bomb underneath the chicken they've ordered for the snack. As with most movies directed by the incomparable Gordon, this film lays on the sleaze in dollops not veneer. Vince Edwards, the cop pursuing Connors, finds his investigation leading to a strip club. As he interviews one stripper backstage, the one on stage is in the frame behind Edwards. Only Bert I. Gordon would remember to put the girl in that shot! To make clear his commitment to the case, Edwards says one of the most memorable lines in the movie. "Let me blanket the city with policewomen just begging to be raped!" If that makes you laugh, run to find the uncut version of this masterpiece. If such dialog has you wondering whatever happened to Paddy Chayefsky, then go nowhere near this or any other Bert I. Gordon work.

The concept of a serial rapist being the only one who can identify a serial bomber is what drives this exploitation shocker towards B movie greatness. Neville Brand, despicable as he is, assaulting and killing to satisfy his twisted sexual fantasies, is easily eclipsed by Chuck Conners as the mad bomber, on a crusade to avenge his daughter's death. These two great evil performances are the core of this film. What prevents "The Police Connection" from being a flat out classic is head police investigator Vince Edwards, who sleep walks through the entire movie, providing zero charisma. He most definitely is no "Dirty Harry". If you can find an unedited version, get it. You will be amazed. - MERK

I've just seen on Google Video what-according to the other comments I've read-was the edited version of The Mad Bomber. Chuck Connors plays the title character who's trying to avenge his daughter's death from a drug overdose on the city of Los Angeles. Vince Edwards is the cop trying to stop him. And Neville Brand is the rapist who witnesses Connors at the mental hospital he sneaks into. Supposedly there were actual scenes of nudity, graphic rape, even more intense explosions. What I saw seemed sufficient. While there are some slow spots such as Brand's having to identify Connors through various face recreations with Edwards in the police headquarters, there is enough tension to keep things going. Writer, producer, director Bert I. Gordon does seem a bit heavy-handed in his approach and many of the minor characters are mostly stick figures for plot contrivances. Still, fairly good performances by Connors, Edwards, and Brand. Update:6/23/13-I just watched on YouTube one of the cut scenes from this movie, a scene when the Brand character is watching film of a nude woman doing flirty poses that he gets off on. The rating stays.