THE THRILL KILLERS

title: THE THRILL KILLERS
year: 1964
cast: Ray Dennis Steckler, Gary Kent, Liz Renay, Joe Bardo, Carolyn Brandt
rating: ****

The best thing about this glorious drive-in exploitation is a precise combination of two kinds of psychopaths, both acting completely on their own but for the same results. First: the lone killer and second: the band of killers. The solo nutjob's played by director Ray Dennis Steckler i.e. Cash Flagg as "Mag Dog Click," a snaky bald wanderer who travels around in a stolen car (after killing the driver who accepted his hitch... some thanks). Then there are the three escaped loonies from the mental ward, the biggest, toughest and most dangerous played by Gary Kent, using wide crazy eyes to full effect... and then some. A happy but ultimately unlucky couple are nightmarishly badgered by the trio; whilst another couple, sort of the main characters, deal with the same gang and eventually with Steckler, resulting in two separate climactic fights. From the frying pan into the fire back into the pan with flames all around it, this addictive celebration of enthralling violence never lets up.