Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films,
2017
Images from the Internet
The Zodiac Killer
Directed by Tom Hanson
AGFA / Something Weird Video
/ MVD Visual
87
minutes, 1971 / 2017
This
until-recently-lost film is kind of infamous in the true story crimes micro-budget
genre. Director Tom Hanson did not set out to either warn, to give information
to the public about a real-life serial killer who besot California in the mostly
late 1960s into the very early 1970s, or to make a profit. His purpose was to either
catch the Killer at the premiere if he showed up. Man, that’s ballsy!
While
it didn’t work since the Zodiac Killer (ZK) was never found, it did leave us
this wonderfully bizarre and cheesy film that strangely is actually more entertaining
than the bio-pic Zodiac (2007), which
was completed with a budget in the millions, and starred A-listers such as Jake
Gyllenhaal. When this film was
released, though, the killing was still going on, which gives a chilling aspect
to it.
 |
| Hal Reed |
We
meet two characters in San Francisco, a mailman named Jerry (Hal Reed, d. 2010)
and a balding ladies’ man, Grover (Bob Jones), who is a delivery truck driver. These
two guys, as are most of the (non-victim) men portrayed, are macho misogynist morons
who have a deep-seated hatred of women, often casually using terms like “dumb
broad” and, of course, “bitch.” Sadly, dudes like these who have a fanatical
distaste for women and yet seek some kind of need for their attention are still
a dime a dozen (hey, one is even the president of the United States). At one
point, one older guy comments that he likes women who are “plump, and juicy…and
dumb,” and another shouts at a waitress ex-girlfriend (Norma Michaels), “I’m
not in the habit of having my broads walk out on me.”
But
the men in the story aren’t the only ones here that get a harsh brushstroke, as
many of the women come across as man-hungry; usually the more attractive and
least dressed, the higher the level of desperation. For example, a woman in a
bikini practically drags a character into a random and spontaneous –off-camera
– sex act. Another is how many women throw themselves after the obviously
bewigged Grover, even though they act surprised and mean-girlish when the toup
is blown.
 |
| Bob Jones |
While
the story is occasionally silly – and yet still entertaining – there is
actually an interesting mixture of case file reality stirred with
unsubstantiated (i.e., made up) killings. But the Zodiac, who is linked to
about a dozen known killings, claimed in a letter to have 37 victims at one
point. This gives quite the leeway for the story to imagine possibilities.
The
identity of the ZK does not come as a surprise in this story, as even though
masked, the body type is quite easy to spot. Fortunately, it’s not long before
the film makes it clear, so it can get on with the action at hand, and there is
a lot of it. The body count is quite high here, even if the caliber of acting
is not. There is a lot of hand-wringing type behavior and a lot of angry
shouting with face twisting. But that is part of what is enjoyable, too.
We
find out before long that ZK is completely looney (here’s one part I assume
that is supposed to anger the real
Zodiac), believing that those he kills are enslaved to him in a nearly
ritualistic, messiah complex way. This is clear in a monologue where he refers
to himself as “The Supreme Zodiac.”
A
nice touch, on a second viewing, is seeing some things I hadn’t noticed before,
such as the link to one of the first killings, and especially of the red
herrings, including the motivation for the second couple-killing, which I missed
on the first run through. It’s just a few smart touches in a largely ham-fisted
script. As filmmaking goes though, despite the heavy-handed story and acting,
it is shot quite nicely, and there is a decent level of blood. A stabbing scene
is especially effective for its budget and timeframe. This is taken from the
last remaining full 35mm print left, which had been blown up from 16mm to show
in theaters. What drove me most crazy though is that throughout, ZK never wears
gloves and yet touches everything that would certainly be tested for prints.
Funny thing is, this bothered me more than the lack of acting chops.
Another
amusing thing is that even back then, there is the “Indie Rule of Cameos,” with
a brief (probably one day of shooting) appearance by Doodles Weaver (who is
credited as Doddles Weaver; d. 1983), as an unlikeable older man.
Towards
the end, there is an attempt to “humanize” the ZK just a bit with his having
issues about… well, I’m not going to say, but this is most likely another attempt
to goad the real Killer. The inner monologue we hear towards the end is most
likely meant to do the same.
As
with many Blu-rays, there is a sea of extras, which I will unbox, out of
sequence. First, there is a series of period-piece trailers that revolve around
“Tabloid-Horror Trailers” (such as 1970’s Carnival
of Blood, starring Burt Young). There is a 4-minute featurette called “Let’s
Get This Guy: The Origin of The Zodiac
Killer” (2017), which features interviews with director (and owner of a chain
of pizza stores) Tom Hanson and producer Manny Nedwick, who briefly discuss how
the motivation for the film came about and its aftermath. This should not be
confused with the upcoming “Making Of” documentary called Zodiac Man: The True Story of the Man Who Made a Movie to Catch a
Killer, which is due out in 2018 (and will undoubtedly be included on a
future release of this film – or vice versa).
Hanson
and Nedwick, along with members of “the AGFA Team” show up again in the
commentary track. Sadly, Jim Vraney could not be on here since the Something
Weird Video (SWV) founder passed away in 2014. Two members of AGFA spend the
first 10 interesting (pun not intended) minutes describing their attraction to
the SWV brand, and how they partnered with the estate to work on this release.
Then they are joined by Hanson and Nedwick (one character in an early part of
the film is named for him) who describe working on the film. Despite Hanson’s
bad memory, thanks to some careful questioning by the curators, many
interesting facts come out about the making of the film. It’s worth the view.
Other
extras are that both a Blu-ray and DVD version of, well, everything, in
included, and that there is a very nice booklet containing production credits
and a print interview with Hanson. The last extra is an entire second film called, Another Son of Sam, reviewed below.
Written,
produced, edited and directed by Dave Adams
67
minutes, 1977
I
don’t tell people this very often, but I went to high school with the Son of
Sam’s final victim, Stacy Moskowitz. I didn’t really know her other than passing
her in the hall, as she was in an entirely different social scene than mine
(i.e., she was “popular,” and I didn’t have a “group”). It was still a shock,
though.
This
was filmed just after the Son of Sam reign of terror (but pre-trial) in New York
City, though it was shot around Charlotte, NC. If you ask me, despite the title
cards listing some then-recent serial killers and their body counts before the
opening credits, this tale of a murderer on the loose is not really connected in
any way to the infamous .44 Caliber Killer, but rather its title is intended to
be a good way to grab an audience, in the same way unconnected movies are given
“sequel” names (e.g., House II: The
Second Story [sic] in 1987). For
the record, its shooting title was Hostages.
To
be fair and more accurate, the basic premise is actually closer to Halloween (1978) than anything else, as
a silent and deranged man, Harvey, escapes from an insane asylum and then goes
on a killing spree. When he holes up in a college, the body count rises. There
are a lot of his POV shots, peeking from behind bushes, attacking whoever comes
across his path. When one is his psychologist, Dr. Daisy Ellis (Cynthia
Stewart), her husband, copper Lt. Claude Setzer (Russ Dubuc) leads the entire
police force out on the manhunt.
This
is total psychotronic in that it’s a really cheesy film with terrible acting
and a not-that-brilliant screenplay, but it is definitely an attention-keeper in
its own bizarre way, if you’re into that kind of thing – which I am. There are a
lot of meaningless and misleading – yet effective – jump scares.
One
of the more intriguing aspects may actually be unintentional: it’s obvious that
this print has been through hell over the years, with discoloration and other
issues. Through the film, especially in early shots, there are a bunch of
freeze frames; it could be that it was stylistic, but I’m guessing more likely
the film was damaged so the images were eaten away but the soundtrack was okay.
I’m hoping I’m wrong because it’s one of my favorite things about the film.
Some
other interesting little bits about the film: (1) There’s some blood, but most
of it is seen after the assaults;
with one big exception, there’s very little actual violence seen; (2) most of
the time we see Harvey, it’s pretty much the same shot of his face from above
the mouth up, with shadowy lighting and his caterpillar eyebrows; (3) great period clothing on the cast; and (4)
there is a scene filmed at the Treehouse Lounge nightclub (now called the
Treehouse Whiskey and Fork) with Tampa Bay-based singer Johnny Charro doing his
Elvis-meets-Humperdinck regional hit, “Never Said Goodbye” (which is also heard
on a radio station in the film, and again with the end credits).
This
is Adams’ only IMDB film credit, and relatively speaking, for the technology
and the time period, it’s quite good, in a so-bad-it’s-good way. Sure, it drags
a bit here and there, but mostly it’s good fun. If you’re reading this, odds
are you understand what you’re getting when the word psychotronic is employed
as a descriptor. All y’all enjoy!
