The Sadist (1963) [Thriller] [Horror]

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The Sadist (also known as Profile of Terror and Sweet Baby Charlie) is an black-and-white exploitation film. The film is loosely based on the killings of Charles Starkweather, upon which the films “Badlands” and “Natural Born Killers” were also based.

Three high school teachers, Ed, Doris, and Carl, 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. 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. At this point Charlie Tibbs, a rather large man wielding a Colt .45, and his girlfriend Judy show up. Charlie and Judy have spent the past several days heading west from Arizona, leaving a trail of corpses behind them. Law enforcement is on the hunt for them, but Charlie has managed to stay a step ahead by changing vehicles frequently and then killing the people who offer their help.

Charlie demands that Ed finish 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.” During the next several hours Charlie and his girlfriend torment Ed, Doris, and Carl.

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Directed by James Landis, produced by L. Steven Snyder, written by James Landis, starring Arch Hall, Jr., Richard Alden, Marilyn Manning, Don Russell and Helen Hovey.

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Source: “The Sadist (film)” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.. 28 July 2013. Web. 16 August 2013. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sadist_(film).

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45 Replies to “The Sadist (1963) [Thriller] [Horror]”

  3. Say what you will about this perfect B-Flick. It's ugly, it's bad and it's very good at what it wants to do: make you giggle, wince and gape at the spectacle of irony that it is. The ridiculously drawn out climax really did give me goose bumps of the most unpleasant sort. Score a homerun for the kids in the junkyard!

  4. When the ambiance & the mood are set just right, even the worst movie can be scary & creepy! :)) I first saw this on a VHS with another movie as a "Drive In Double Feature" (sold by Sinister Cinema). It included the original drive-in theater cartoons & commercials for the concessions! 😀
    Kinda fun, whether as a late-niter or a drive-in deal! :))

  8. In this battle between smart and stupid, smart arrives underrepresented! Well filmed, for a B-movie. I didn't know some of these filming techniques existed before the early '80s slasher flicks: hand held camera "spying" on victims, for instance. Recommended!

  9. SPOILER: I know…the writers said….To End It…let's allow the smartest one to live!
    But, other than the cat, uumh or maybe the snakes, they are ALL stupid as stupid does.
    O yea right. Okay then…well, same as every other bad movie…we'll let the dumb blonde bimbo live.

  11. Well, that was fun and  what a shocker that Arch Hall Jr. gig a half-way decent acting job, considering  his work in mostly  self-promoting classics such as "Wild Guitar" and the equally dismal "Eeehga" LOL !! Loved the over-the-top beginning of this movie, but it always aggravates me the way these victims always handle  these situations in such moronic ways. Its only a matter a time before these  fools end up D.O.A, preyed upon by their own stupidity……

  22. I feel I've seen all the best horror/slasher films of the 70's and 80's.  I have been watching the Gialli of the 60's and 70's. Now I'm going even further back to the black and whites.  It's getting harder to find decent scary movies.  I really enjoyed this one.  Not really scary but enjoyable enough.  Arch Jr. What a strange looking man! Thanks for posting.

  23. full of holes, but biggest was that there were TWO gassed-up cop motorcycles ready to go!!! blonde bimbo also hung around too long and would stop and look back while the villain chased her; also in the end walks RIGHT PAST functioning vehicle. Otherwise fucking hilarious!!!

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  25. There's a number of Hollywood errors in this film. The last victims car ran out of gas, but there's a gas pump close by. The killers .45 ACP doesn't lock open after the last round. The surviving girl
    doesn't get in a working car after the killer is dead.
    This is a stupid movie. Republicans would love this movie.

  26. The acting is so God awful…….. Did this guy really have a uni-brow or was it just make up effect? For a sadistic killer he sure takes care of his teeth. So his eyes clear just like that? No water or anything? I see the defenseless white girl in a horror movie trope goes all the way back to the 60's. Also the last girl trope as well. 

  27. In spite of the God awful acting  and some silliness with the plot – I just don't understand why she needed to keep looking back? Couldn't she hear the car coming after her? Why would she walk right past the car at the very end? She didn't know it stalled on the guy, they should have at least have had her try to start it- this was actually a decent movie. I like the ending, the "last girl" is terrified of snakes, she hates them, and who comes to her rescue? A nest of vipers! Poetic justice? LOL. This is the fourth movie I've seen based on Charles Starkweather. The Badlands (the good), Natural Born Killers (the bad) and Kalifornia. I will place The Sadist as the ugly, because that Arch Hall Jr. has got a face only a mother could love. 

  28. The Sadist (also known as Profile of Terror and Sweet Baby Charlie) is a 1963 black-and-white exploitation film written and directed by James Landis, and stars Arch Hall, Jr. The film is loosely based on the killing spree of Charles Starkweather, upon which the films Badlands and Natural Born Killers were also based. It was shot by famed cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond over a period of 2 weeks for $33,000 with a cast of five, one of whom doubled as the film's production manager.[2] It was Zsigmond's first full length film as a director of photography, and he is credited as "William Zsigmond." -Wiki

  31. I've been sidestepping this movie for a long time, thinking it was another bad Arch Hall Jr. movie.   It was part of a multi-film set, so I finally gave it a try…WOW!  Hard to believe it was the same actor from Wild Guitar, Egaah, etc… What a great little film!…almost painfully suspenseful….seemed to get better and better as it progressed.  Great photography, location and the supporting actors were adequate to above- average.  I found this to be even more consistently scary (throughout) than Night of the Living Dead.

  34. The blond damsel in distress, Helen Hovey, should have been a big star.. But Hollywood missed the boat on this one…they didn't pay much attention to the B- rated drive in movies… The Sadist was her only movie…. didn't you feel her… ? Her silent acting scenes were intense and believable.. But the lines they gave her were duds ….. She reminded me of Fay Wray of the original King Kong.. With a good acting coach and script, her name would have been top box office..

  37. Outstanding movie
    Ist saw it as kid in the 80s and never forgot how i was terrified and gripped every single second. Arch Hall was 100% perfect for this role. A home run. Maybe the best B movie of all time and better than most A movies i have ever seen. Brings back mem. of that !st terrifing time i saw it and felt that scared kid again.
    True Classic
    Txs for posting it timeless

  38. There's so much to like, but those two motorcycle cops are the greatest. "Whew boy, sure is a scorcher!" "Say, son, I haven't seen you around here before!" That's funny. His son didn't say anything about a family friend, and you know what a talker he is!" "Oh, hey, looky here, somebody lost a .45 clip!"

  41. VERY HORRIFIC! This film kept me on the edge of my seat! I felt like I was there & I was part of it. The actor playing the bad guy was PERFECT for the part. He acted & sounded like a monster. (I wonder if he ever acted in anything after this film?). Great ending!!!

  44. Not one compromise to convention. What may at first appear a camp performance, Arch Hall Jr's portrayal is on the mark throughout. Makes Hitchcock puerile by comparison.

  45. Arch Hall Jr. definitely looks the part of a first rate material to run for public office . Cruel , heartless and completely uncaring ginetic throwback ……

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