| The Sadist |
Promotional movie poster for the film |
| Directed by |
James Landis |
| Produced by |
L. Steven Snyder |
| Written by |
James Landis |
| Starring |
Arch Hall, Jr.
Richard Alden
Marilyn Manning
Don Russell
Helen Hovey |
| Music by |
Paul Sawtell (uncredited)
Bert Shefter(uncredited) |
| Cinematography |
William Zsigmond |
| Editing by |
Anthony M. Lanza |
| Distributed by |
Fairway International Pictures (United States)
Prima Film (Canada, 1971) |
| Release date(s) |
April 1963 (United States) |
| Running time |
95 min. |
| Country |
USA |
| Language |
English |
The Sadist (US release date April 1963) is a 1963 black and white exploitation film written and directed by James Landis. It stars Arch Hall, Jr., son of exploitation impressario, writer, producer, and director Arch Hall, Sr. It’s said The Sadist is “an early progenitor of The Hills Have Eyes and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”.[1] This 95 minute horror/thriller contains excellent cinematography, despite being low budget film. The film was distributed by Fairway International Pictures of the United States and Prima Film of Canada.[2] The film is also known as Profile of Terror and Sweet Baby Charlie.
Plot summary
Three high school teachers, Ed, Doris, and Carl (the protagonists) are driving through rural Southern California on their way to a Dodgers game in Los Angeles. The group’s Chevrolet Belair has some trouble and they are forced to pull off to a gas station/junkyard on the side of the road. After examining the vehicle Ed concludes that the fuel pump will need to be replaced. “It’s a quick fix” Ed says, “shouldn’t take any longer than an hour… we should still make it to the game on time.” Doris and Carl search the junkyard looking for the owner, but they cannot find him. In the residence Carl finds a warm meal with a table set for four, but oddly enough nobody is in the house. The three realize this is very peculiar and start to seriously worry about their situation. Right about now is when our antagonists Charlie Tibbs and his girlfriend Judy show up. Charlie is a rather large individual wielding a Colt .45. Charlie and Judy have spent the past several days heading west from Arizona, murdering for kicks whenever their path crosses with anyone else. Law enforcement is on the hunt for them, but Charlie has managed to stay a step ahead of the law by changing vehicles frequently and then killing the poor people who offer their help. Charlie demands that Ed finishes repairing the car and informs him that he and Judy will be stealing the Belair and taking off when Ed is done. Charlie threatens that if the three don’t cooperate “it’ll be the end of them”. The next several hours Charlie and his girlfriend torment our protagonists, demonstrating to us they are merciless and take pleasure inflicting pain, hence the name of our film, The Sadist.
Character Synopsis
Charles A. Tibbs our villain in the film, is portrayed by actor, musician, and author Arch Hall Jr.. The first lines of the film, “I have been hurt by others, and I will hurt them. I will make them suffer as I have suffered”, give us some insight to Charlie’s character. Charlie is in fact the “Sadist” the film is named after. He is a cold-blooded murderer that quite frankly shows no remorse for his actions.
Judy Bradshaw, Charlie’s girlfriend in the film, is played by actress Marilyn Manning. Judy plays a rather small role in the film having nearly no dialogue. It is unclear to us why Judy is the way she is. She is rather nonviolent in the film, but we can only assume that she too is a sadist considering her lack of pity.
Ed Stiles, our hero in the film, is played by actor Richard Alden. Stiles is a very talented, strapping young man. The film hints that he is ex-military. He has a very obvious physical presence as well as a quick wit. He is a very classic protagonist.
Doris Page, our starlet in the film, is played by actress Helen Hovey. Hovey is reportedly the real life cousin of Arch Hall Jr..[3] Page is young and beautiful, but her downfall is that she is maybe a bit too prim and proper. Page is the perfect example of a “damsel in distress”.
Carl Oliver is played in the film, by actor Don Russell. Oliver plays a smaller role in the film. He is much older than his two companions, Stiles and Page. Oliver is a happy family man. It is very evident that is a kind and intelligent individual.
External links
Notes
References
The Sadist. James Landis. Fairway International Pictures. 1963 Link http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=-7898373332979192586&hl=en&autoplay=1
