Main Cast: Michael Biehn, Alex McArthur, Nicholas Campbell, Deborah Van Valkenburgh, John Harkins
Release Year: 1987
Country: US
Run Time: 92 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Rampage delves into the subject of legal insanity, so often the default defense in modern-time gruesome crime trials. Alex McArthur plays an outwardly normal guy who goes on incredible killing and mutilating sprees until (and even after, when he escapes for a short time) he's captured. When he comes to trial, the liberal DA (Michael Biehn) is torn between his own leftist leanings and the reality of the heinous crimes for which the accused is being tried. He must argue for the death penalty. ~ All Movie Guide
Review
This bloody thriller is based on the real-life story of Richard Chase, the notorious "Vampire of Sacramento." William Friedkin's film soft-pedals Chase's gruesome crimes, although the gore content may still be a bit hard to take for most viewers. Alex McArthur gives a noteworthy performance as the killer, and his scenes are far more memorable than the film's somewhat pedantic examination of the insanity defense. Overall, Rampage is more likely to appeal to fans of psychothrillers and horror movies than courtroom devotees because McArthur's chilling lead turn is the only reason to see the picture. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
Art La Fleur - Mel Sanderson; Billy Green Bush - Judge McKinsey; Royce D. Applegate - Gene Tippetts; Grace Zabriskie - Naomi Reece; Roy London - Dr. Paul Rudin; Donald Hotton - Dr.Leon Gables; Andy Romano - Spencer Whalen; Richard J. Baskin - Attorney; Gale Beeman - Mrs. Hendriksen; Robert Broyles - Joe Kautman; Colleen Casey-Rohde - Emergency Room Technician; Gaetano Comporato - ID Technician; Rodney Cornelius - Guard #2; Chelsea Crank - Molly Fraser; Patrick Cronin - Harry Ballenger; Juliette Deinum - Wendy; Tino R. Enebrad, Jr. - Officer; Noreen Farley - Waitress; Edith Fields - Rose Gurgan; Mack Haywood Flanders - Sheriff; Paul Gaddoni - Aaron Tippetts; Richard S. Goldman - Emergency Room Technician; Robert Gonzales - Guard #1; Miriam Gray - Juror; Neal Hahn - Mrs. Hendriksen; Erin Hazlett-Oakes - Technologist; Chip Heller - Guard #1; Whitby Hertford - Andrew Tippetts; Charlie Holliday - Narc #1; Edward Ivory - Juror; Ken Jackson - Narc #2; Dr. Javad Jamshidi - Dr.Jamshidi; David Alan Johnson - Del Cameron; David A. Kimball - Doctor in Flashbacks; Robert Knudsen - ID Technician; Brenda Lilly - Eileen Tippetts; Richard Markel - Bailiff; Rosalyn Marshall - Sally Ann; Peter McKernan, Jr. - Co-Pilot; Clifford Milton - Evidence Technician; Laura Moreno-Orrison - Emergency Room Technician; Miguel Najera - Cardenas; Leonard Neuman - Emergency Room Technician; Roger Nolan - Dr. Ray Blair; Tara O'Leary - Juror; Margaret Rose Ott - Mrs. Cardenas; Carlos Palomino - Nestode; Elizabeth J. Prager - Technologist; Robert Louis Raballo - Patient; Nancy L. Sicotte - Technologist; Michael Tamburro - Helicopter Pilot; Pamela Tarver - Woman in Car; Susan Thomas - Emergency Room Technician; Marina Valtierra - ID Technician; Angelo M. Vitale - Assistant DA; Marni Webb - Mrs. Ellis; Joe Whipp - Dr. George Mahon; Violet Yip - Court Clerk; Bernard Zanck - Priest; Steven Anthony Jones - 2nd Guard; Chris Mulkey; John Petievich - Jury Foreman; Rick Montgomery; George Johnson - Juror; Robert Wright - Emergency Room Technician
Credit
Carol Clements - Art Director, Rick Montgomery - Casting, Michael Daves - First Assistant Director, William Friedkin - Director, Jere Huggins - Editor, Ennio Morricone - Composer (Music Score), Buddy Cone - Production Designer, Robert Yeoman - Cinematographer, David Salven - Producer, Nancy Nye - Set Designer, David MacMillan - Sound/Sound Designer, William Friedkin - Screenwriter, William P. Wood - Book Author
Alex McArthur plays a serial killer named Charles Reece, who commits a number of brutal mutilation-slayings in order to drink blood as a result of paranoiddelusions.
The prosecutor, Anthony Fraser (played by Michael Biehn), was previously against capital punishment, but he seeks such a penalty in the face of Reece's brutal crimes after meeting one victim's grieving family.
In the end, Reece is found sane and given the death penalty, but Fraser's internal debate about capital punishment is rendered academic when Reece is found to be insane by a scanning of his brain for mental illness.
Influences
Charlie Reece is loosely based on the real-life serial killer Richard Chase.[1] The crimes that Reece commits are slightly different from those that Chase committed, however; Reece kills three women, a man, and a young boy, whereas Chase killed two men, two women (one of whom was pregnant), a young boy, and a 22-month-old baby. Additionally, Reece escapes at one point, murdering two guards and later a priest, which Chase did not do in real life. However, Reece and Chase were similar in that they both had a history of mental illness and an obsession with drinking blood. Like Reece, Chase was also sentenced to death, but he committed suicide before the sentence could be carried out.[original research?]
