The Sadist (1963) Review by: Ted "Ritualistic" Brown

Three people driving into Los Angeles for a Dodgers game Carl Oliver (Don Russell), Ed Stiles (Richard Alden), and Doris Page (Helen Hovey), have car trouble and pull off into an old wrecking yard where they are held at bay by psychopathic couple Charles Tibbs (Arch Hall Jr.) and Judy Bradshaw (Marilyn Manning) in the 1963 classic "The Sadist".

As many of you know from previous reviews and articles my personal favorite era of horror are the fifties and the sixties, so I found myself in a retro mood and came across "The Sadist" which shockingly up until tonight I had never seen before. The easiest way to describe this film is before Mickey and Mallory there was Charlie and Judy. I absolutely ended up loving this movie for the following reasons.





 
Although this film takes place for a very large chunk of its runtime in one little area the director makes sure it doesn't become dull or tedious by using some gorgeous and imaginative camera angles. One of the reasons I love these older films so much is due to the fact that the lack of CG and high tech special effects really forced screenwriters to give it all they had, because they did not have the luxury of attention diverting eye candy like in today's era of film. "The Sadist" is a perfect example of dialog driven high tension cinema in its rawest form.


 
I was pleasantly surprised by just how gritty and violent this movie was for a feature from the 60s there are a few scenes that must of really been pushing the limits of the era. The entire time I found myself wondering if the minds behind "Natural Born Killers" ever viewed this film as there is even a scene involving rattlesnakes that took me back to the gore soaked story of Mickey and Mallory.

Another feature that took me by surprise is the way the movie transgresses through a few different genres during its running time. What starts off feeling like your typical suspense crime thriller continually takes a turn for the more dark and sinister exploitation and even at times slasher feel. This turns into one hell of a fun and tense ride that will leave you ancy up until the very end.



 
In the end I really enjoyed this movie and had a lot of fun watching it, I highly recommend this to any fan of the era and those who love a good dialog and atmosphere driven flick. On behalf of The Liberal Dead I give "The Sadist" a 9 out of 10.

9/10

- Ted "Ritualistic" Brown