The Sadist

Movie Information

In Brief: Better than most B-movies have any right to be, James Landis' The Sadist is a surprisingly powerful post-noir proto-slasher that was the first to deal with the twisted true story of Charlie Starkweather, a tale that would later be addressed by Terrence Malick in Badlands and Oliver Stone in Natural Born Killers. This film benefits greatly from a bizarre, yet profoundly unnerving, performance from Arch Hall, Jr., whose brief career was entirely conceived by his father, drive-in movie producer Arch Hall, Sr. What really distinguishes The Sadist from other films of its low-budget ilk, however, is the atmosphere created by future Oscar-winning cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond, making his U.S. feature debut. Pulpy, disturbing and cheap, cult-exploitation cinema doesn't get much better than The Sadist.  
Score:

Genre: Horror/Exploitation
Director: James Landis
Starring: Arch Hall, Jr., Marilyn Manning, Richard Alden, Helen Hovey, Don Russell
Rated: NR

The Thursday Horror Picture Show will screen The Sadist on Thursday, Nov. 10, at 9:15 p.m. at The Grail Moviehouse, hosted by Xpress movie critic Scott Douglas.

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