MartinHafer This is Ray Dennis Steckler's foray into films about maniacal serial killers. Like many other writers/directors/producers of crap films in the 1960s, this is his attempt to make a film about a group of people who are being terrorized by some maniac or maniacs. Surprisingly, Steckler's THE THRILL KILLERS as well as Arch Hall, Sr.'s THE SADIST and Al Adamson's HELL'S BLOODY DEVILS are all similar plot-wise and all of these films are significantly better than the usual crappy monster films the guys were known for making. Believe me, EEGAH!, THE INCREDIBLY STRANGE CREATURES WHO STOPPED LIVING AND BECAME MIXED UP ZOMBIES and Dracula VS. FRANKENSTEIN are terrible films--the sort of thing these three men were infamous for creating. Here, though, without the silly monsters they seemed more in their element and all three should have probably done more maniacal killer films.Like many of Sreckler's films, he is one of the stars in the film, though he appears in his alter-ego, 'Cash Flagg'. Additionally, Arch Hall, Sr. also appears in this film in a bit part, as both Arch Junior and Senior were friends of Steckler and occasionally appeared in each other's films. You'll also see Steckler in Hall's WILD GUITAR--another surprisingly watchable minuscule budget film.The film begins with some absolutely horrible narration that not only is laughably bad but makes the film look and sound like crap. Fortunately, after the first 5-10 minutes of the film, it does get a lot better--it couldn't get a lot worse! It's very preachy and nonsensical and does a lot to derail the momentum of the film. Additionally, many of the early scenes with Cash Flagg really seem irrelevant--like they were slapped onto the film to pad it. Well, when I watched an interview with Steckler shortly before his death, he indicated this is EXACTLY why some of these scenes were added--the film was too short and he was padding it to feature-length (you can see this interview in the special features on the DVD).Later, however, the film heats up when three maniacs escape from a hospital for the criminally insane. They do some killings that are high on tension and realism--but are also marred by tossing in the silliest looking plastic head that was supposedly chopped off a victim! But, if you can ignore this, the violent scenes are very emotionally charged and are bound to hit you like a brick--they were generally well done--even if much of the film was terrible. And, in an odd twist, the lone serial killer (Flagg) meets up with the three escaped maniacs--making it the first time totally separate killers meet up late in the film. In other words, once the three killers are dispatched, in comes Flagg to terrorize the people who are in the midst of congratulating themselves about a narrow escape!! While the film is very, very uneven and amateurish at times, the film also manages to be entertaining and do a lot for a film that probably cost less than $50,000 to complete. Not bad, but the best of these type films, THE SADIST, is a better film and should be seen first.

PaulyC Ray Steckler's attempt at something different then his usual kind of movie is pretty decent. I must admit though that I do like movies that involve psychotic characters. The story is very simple. Three psychopaths escape a mental hospital and cause havoc to a small community. The lead of the film however is a small time actor hoping to make it big. The crazies meet up with him and his wife in a small diner and hell breaks loose. There's actually a pretty good chase scene which isn't that common in these films. Although a lot of the acting is pretty cheesy, the mental patients are pretty convincing which makes this film worth a look.

funkyfry Fun cheapie in black and white, fairly well photographed. You're lucky if (like me and others out here in Oakland CA) you got to see it in a theater with Steckler himself and his cronies (including the weary Will Viharo) running through the crowd with axes on cue with the "hypnovision" process on the screen. Weird murder movie plot similar to the later "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" (which owes this movie a lot) has a family of maniacs and their friends on a killing spree in a desert ranch area (looks like somewhere up Coldwater Canyon). The finale has director Steckler on horse evading a cop on a motorbike who can't seem to catch up! Priceless.

wdw-3 I dug this film so much when I first saw it because it epitomizes what makes low budget exploitation good camp entertainment. It seems to be made made solely to exploit itself and does it's damndest to deliver. I like the b & w cinematography and the various cinematic devices used albeit some quite cliche. The camp and subversive elements are given to us hand in hand when serial killer Mort Click tells one of his female victims "People are no good" "I hate People!" "I'm going to kill you". Super cheesy chase at the end is the capper and, because it's slightly anti-climactic, only makes the exploitation motives more obvious therefore giving "The Thrill Killers" very high camp value. I still think it's an admirable and entertaining effort by a spirited and eccentric auteur.