Killer's Delight

"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.

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.

This so-called horror was made just before the slasher era. And it shows. It is based on the life of a real serial killer, Ted Bundy, but to be honest, it doesn't. Nevertheless this flick is worth seeing for those who wants to see the San Fran era at the end of the seventies, the clothes, the highway (before it collapsed in the 1989 earthquake) and the cars.

If you think you are going to see some nasty stuff well it isn't going to be so. There's no scary or bloody moment to see overall this flick. The only parts that your face can turn away is the part were they show the pictures from the crime delict. What you see are full naked girls being murdered.

It's slow moving in parts with stupid conversations between the detectives but the flick itself isn't released properly to this writing. You can catch it as Killer's Delight on DVD or on the extreme hard to get Dutch VHS with the opening credits as The Dark Ride which is even full uncut. I watched it on the Dutch release, dark in places because it's a low budget flick with no extra lighting. Still, for the real geeks worth picking up somehow.

Gore 0/5 Nudity 0,5/5 Effects 0/5 Story 2/5 Comedy 0/5

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.

An early example of the serial killer features that would eventually proliferate, "Killer's Delight" takes its inspiration (apparently) from the crimes of the notorious real-life Ted Bundy. A disguise-happy creep (John Karlen, 'Dark Shadows') rides about in a yellow van and regularly abducts, tortures, and slaughters attractive young women. A police detective named DeCarlo (James Luisi, "The Hidden") realizes that these murders are the work of one person, and is coldly determined to stop him, no matter what he has to do.

"Killer's Delight" (also known as "The Sport Killer" and "The Dark Ride") goes through its exploitative paces adequately, with suspense, titillation, and very little in the way of gore. Here, screenwriter Maralyn Thoma and director Jeremy Hoenack try to maintain a balance between following the actions of the psycho, and the actions of the cop. It has time for some humor, as DeCarlo pals around with fellow detective Mike Mitelman (Martin Speer (Wes Cravens' "The Hills Have Eyes"), who was also the art director on this show). The film is sufficiently entertaining, if not exemplary in any way. Its biggest plot twist occurs in the final third when DeCarlo asks his paramour, psychiatrist Carol Thompson (lovely TV veteran Susan Sullivan, 'Falcon Crest' and 'Dharma & Greg'), to act as the bait in a trap for the creep.

With other familiar faces like Hilarie Thompson ("Nighthawks"), Anne-Marie Martin (the original "Prom Night"), and Buck Flower ("They Live"), in a cameo as a distraught witness, it's easy enough to watch "Killer's Delight", especially as it works to create a constant sense of creeping dread. Karlen is a standout as the murderer, the kind of character one feels filthy just watching.

Overall, a decent procedural / body count thriller, somewhat obscure these days but which die hard fans of the genre may want to seek out.

Six out of 10.