Le Sadique

If you have seen the bizarre cult movie Eegah (1962) before approaching The Sadist, you could be forgiven for being a little concerned. After all, both films are notable for featuring Arch Hall Jr in a starring role. Hall displayed such a remarkable lack of acting talent in the earlier film that it seemed inconceivable that he would be in the least bit threatening as a psychopath in a gritty thriller. Well, all I can say is that the Arch hall Jr of The Sadist is like a man reborn. He quite literally is excellent here.

The film has a plot as simple as can be - three teachers pull up at a deserted junkyard in a remote location and are quickly held captive by a psychotic young couple. It's a lean story with no wastage whatsoever. It really is a very good example of how to make an effective low-budget movie, where the lack of resources never gets in the way. In fact, this is a quite hard-hitting thriller for its era and has some tough scenes. Some characters are killed when you don't think they will be and, generally, it surprises.

As I said before Hall plays the sadist of the title but he is not the only standout performer, Marilyn Manning is very good too as his unhinged girlfriend. Her character is an interesting one, as she says nothing throughout except inaudible whispers to Hall, yet she manages to create a fascinating character and projects a quite magnetic screen presence. There are only five other actors in the entire cast, they all do solid rather than memorable work. The film benefits too from great cinematography from Vilmos Zsigmond who went on to be director of photography in such high profile later films such as Deliverance (1972), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) and The Deer Hunter (1978). In this little movie he manages to utilise the clutter-filled environs of the junkyard to fantastic effect, especially in the latter suspenseful pursuit scenes where three different characters navigate their way around the junk-filled landscape where we sometimes see them all captured simultaneously on screen in different parts of the yard. The direction by James Landis is pacey and certainly makes the most of the limited set-up. Ultimately, this is well acted, photographed and directed. And this combination amounts to one of the great 60's B-movies.

I have to say, I was a little worried that after all the great things I had heard about "The Sadist" that I would be let down in the end. After all, its an early sixties cheapie thriller starring Arch Hall Jr. and its probably just overrated for its bleak attitude which is so uncommon in films of that era. Right?

Wrong.

The plot is simple but strong. Three teachers on the way to an L.A. Dodgers game have car trouble and pull into a house/car garage on the side of the road. They search for help but the place seems to be abandoned... However there is warm pie and uneaten food on the kitchen table of the house. Something is definitely amiss and all three teachers are feeling somewhat uncomfortable when suddenly the find out they aren't so alone after all... A cackling Charlie Tibb (Arch Hall Jr.) and his twisted lolita of a girlfriend (Marilyn Manning) creep out of the graveyard of abandoned cars and take the situation into their control...

"The Sadist" is truly a great movie. Arch Hall Jr. gives us one of cinema's greatest maniacs, some one on par with the likes of Anthony Perkin's Norman Bates or Klaus Kinski's Don Lope de Aguirre. Never for a moment did I find Charles A. Tibb to be unbelievable. Marilyn Manning is equally strong as Charlie's child-like girlfriend Judy, seemingly even sicker then Charles. She whispers deranged activities in his ear and giggles constantly and in the end I found her to be the more disturbing of the duo. The three teachers are not quite as strong, Helen Hovery and Don Russel put out solid performances but unfortunately the resident "big-talker" Richard Alden gets some what obnoxious.

What is perhaps most remarkable about this film however, is the way it is shot. Vilmos Zsigmond's (here credited as William Zsigmond) camera lingers on the sweat, pain and suffering of the three teachers only to cut to a playful and giggling couple of psycho's happily sipping their Coca-Cola's. The whole film is filled with a feeling of heat and agony, a constantly blazing sun shining down into a barren waste land of dead cars and dead bodies. Flashes of hope are rare and always beaten down with such hatred and force that the viewer almost hopes it wont come back... One of the most high tension films I have ever seen.

While some of todays viewers may lose sight of the strength and message of this film, I believe that it is as strong as it ever was. Required viewing for any fan of low-budget thrillers, and required viewing for any one interested in just how powerful the media of film can be.

****/*****

At the centre of The Sadist is Arch Hall Jr, the cult B-movie star with an appearance that, in one uneasy package, combined that of an Elvis and Michael J. Pollard. Hall Jr's film career was instigated by his producer-father Hall Sr, (himself the inspiration of a cult comedy, Jack Webb's The Last Time I Saw Archie, 1961), who saw his son appear in a succession of films in the early 1960s. They range from a favourite escaped-caveman-on the-loose film (Eegah, 1962), to z-grade rock 'n' roll flicks (Wild Guitar, 1962) and a surreally bad thriller (The Nasty Rabbits, 1964). All retain a loyal following, principally because how truly awful they are. Arch Hall's podgy screen incompetence, together with the risible screen scenarios he perpetually struggled through, virtually created a genre all of its own. By all accounts a reluctant participant in his father's cinematic aspirations on his behalf, Hall Jr happily disappeared from the screen after the dismal western Deadwood '76 (1965), and made a career as a pilot thereafter. The director of Hall's swansong, as well as several others of his films, was James Landis (not to be confused with the director of The Blues Brothers). Landis' career was a similar tale of pot-boiling exploitation work, tailing off into obscurity. Astonishingly, Landis also directed The Sadist. Inspired by the commercial success of Psycho, as well as the real life murder spree of teenage killer Charles Starkweather and girlfriend - the exploits of whom also inspired the better known Badlands (1973), The Sadist comes as a revelation to those used to the inept dross Landis and Hall Jr were responsible for elsewhere. It is as if, for once in their otherwise unremarkable careers, true inspiration finally took fire and they both found a vehicle they were born to make. Whereas Landis' direction can be listless and slack, here it is involved and with a sure sense of dramatic pacing. Where Hall's poverty-row rock 'n' roll persona had previously been laughably ineffectual, here his piggy eyes, intimidating pompadour, and lack of emotional sensitivity seem exactly right in a role that demands icy menace. In retrospect, his Charlie Tibbs is a part one might have wished on the young Elvis, before Colonel Parker shunted the singer off into dull family entertainment.

As others have pointed out, The Sadist's storyline seems amazingly prescient of those increasingly popular amongst modern film makers, such as Kalifornia (1993) for instance, or Breakdown (1997). More interestingly, its suspenseful structure, sweaty claustrophobia, peculiarly menacing protagonists and final chase scenes anticipate The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974). Landis' film begins with the arrival of a sputtering car carrying three sweating teachers en route to a baseball game, whose mechanical failure strands them at an apparently deserted breakdown yard. Aboard the car are middle-aged Carl (Don Russell), an early thirties Ed (Richard Alden) and the beautiful Doris (Helen Hovey). While they are searching for spare parts, and the owners of the yard, the trio's initial apprehensions turn into real fear when confronted by gun-toting killer Charlie, and his silent girlfriend Judy (Marilyn Manning). Over the next 90 minutes the victims are subjected to a callous game of threats and violence as the tearaway threatens to kill them all before escaping.

Set almost entirely amidst the rusting clutter of a desert junkyard, The Sadist has a peculiarly intense atmosphere. A lot of this can be attributed to writer-director Landis' hand; a lot more is due to the crisp black and white cinematography of Vilmos Zsigmond, his first film. He went on to be an Oscar winner, responsible for the glories of McCabe And Mrs Miller (1971) and The Deer Hunter (1978). Much of The Sadist's effect is gained through the skillful filming of powerplay in carefully controlled cinematic space, creating virtues out of necessity in a found set, as Zsigmond's camera prowls menacingly along the ground and amongst wrecked cars, placing the tortured protagonists precisely in their dirt arena. Both at the beginning of the film (a chilling introductory voice over by Arch Hall, Sr) and at the film's climax, the audience is given a close up of Charlie's crazed, beady eyes peering out of the shadows - a striking effect, recalling Bela Lugosi's famous glare in White Zombie of 30 years earlier.

Zsigmond and Landis are here adept at creating powerful moments without a word hardly being said, such as the remarkable well scene when the prowling Charlie, naked blade in hand, contemplates the vulnerable and near hysterical Doris. Elsewhere they are equally adept at introducing suspense by an absence of action, using off-screen space in ways that reminds one of John Carpenter's finest moments. For instance in the opening scenes, during Carl's increasingly anxious exploration of the deserted yard shack, and the almost casual, short, pan down to where the phone line has been only too recently cut.

Hall's moronically sneering Charlie is the most unsettling character in the film and the only role where the actor put in any kind of effort, although even here his performance would have benefited from a little more little more light and shade. Having said that, the malevolent charisma he successfully exudes is still light years away from his regular cheerful mugging and, although he treads the thin line between drama and camp, to the viewer's relief, he never crosses it. Amongst the supporting cast both Don Russell as Carl (also the film's production manager) and Helen Hovey as Doris make their only screen appearances. The only real professional is Richard Alden, a talent later to appear in Tashlin's The Glass Bottomed Boat (1966) before sinking into similar obscurity. His cowardly character Ed, doomed to prevarication and indecision, is a surprising one, who eventually runs rather than fights, almost deserving Charlie's taunting. Well built, he could easily outwrestle and outmuscle his opponent. Early on it is clear that Ed is barely on first name terms with his female colleague - a state of affairs in stark contrast to the abrupt, sadistic insinuations practised by her tormentor who assaults her and pushes her face into the ground. Interestingly, Judy (Marilyn Manning, who also appeared much less impressively in Eegah) barely says a word through the piece but remains an ominous, mute chorus to Charlie's predations. It is her death which triggers the only show of emotion in the killer and which precipitates the final climax.

With its particularly effective use of chronology (the film occurs in 'real time' over 90 minutes, the passage of events punctuated by radio references to the missed sporting event) The Sadist maintains a tight grip over its running time and, given its trash origins, remains a substantial achievement well worth discovering. It's one of those films that restores one's faith in the B-move genre...

Always have your mechanic check the fuel pump before taking in an afternoon of baseball. But if you don't--be prepared to shake your head. Wince. Now run for your life! All good advice when dealing with "The Sadist." Arch Hall Jr. carves out one of the most demented portrayals in screen history. There is not a sliver of goodness in his contorted face or stooped walk. He drinks soda pop and wolfs down apple pie with ghoulish glee. He also kills people. Often. He hates cops and teachers. The movie has both present: three egg heads and two swine. A meal only a true psycho can savor. And does he ever. Along for the ride is his mute, sycophant lady friend--a Miss Manners reject. Together they torture the living daylights out of anyone who crosses their path. The director pulls no punches in realizing this stark land of visual terror. Surprisingly, the cameraman, Zsigmond, has gone on to win an Oscar and a raft of prime Hollywood assignments. Everyone else--in this 92 minute movie--only wishes to escape and catch a few innings of a good ball game. Instead, they all suffer from heat stroke and a terminal case of hooky from the rest of the world. Amen.

Three teachers are driving to Los Angeles for a Dodgers game when they're sidelined with car trouble. They pull into an automobile junkyard for assistance, but the place appears to be deserted. If only they were so lucky. It isn't long before they're set upon by the unhinged Charlie Tibbs and his silent girlfriend, Judy. Held at gunpoint and subjected to almost nonstop psychological torment by the murderous couple, the teachers may find this auto graveyard to be their final resting place as well.

Having been curious about it via a reference book, I made a point of catching The Sadist on TCM a few years back. I found myself ordering the Collector's Edition DVD the very next day. As far as 60's horror goes, I'd say it's close behind Rosemary's Baby. It's a tight little affair that doesn't take long to get going. Once the three teachers meet Charlie and his gal, it's wall-to-wall tension for the remainder of the film. Charlie is as unpredictable as he is sadistic, and these people are completely at his mercy. We're kept on the edge of our seat by never knowing what sick game he'll come up with next, or how long it'll be before he tires of his captives. I was impressed with the film's relentless, nary a hope nature. Some scenes are genuinely shocking, particularly for 1963. Who figured a soda pop could bring about such dread? The Sadist is really rather groundbreaking when you look at it. It can be seen as sort of a blueprint for some of the torture films that would follow in years to come. It's also worth noting that it's subdued shocks are more effective than the graphic shocks seen in the majority of those later films.

The acting is fine all around, but the film belongs to Arch Hall Jr. Long considered a camp king, he is chilling as the Starkweather-inspired sadist. He plays Charlie as a real oddball with some bizarre quirks and mannerisms. This could have come off as cheesy, but it doesn't. His performance feels authentic, and he is believably threatening... as long as he has a gun to hide behind, anyway.

It's also a wonderfully shot picture. Vilmos Zsigmond, who went on to award wins, delivers some stunning cinematography his first time out. With his keen eye and Landis' direction, a sense of desolation really shines through.

The Sadist is one that's not to be missed.