| | Directed by JAMES LANDIS with ARCH HALL JR, HELEN HOVEY, MARILYN MANNING *Recommended* A truly wonderful film by any measure. Belongs alongside other sick early 1960s B&W thrillers like LADY IN A CAGE, WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? And THE NAKED KISS. Quiet scenes of terror in stark sunlight are always spookier than night scenes, and particularly haunting here due to Oscar winning cinematographer Vilos Szigmond in one of his earliest films. Solid script. Good acting. Outstanding direction in spots. It captures every bit of the early 60s paranoia when newspaper crime coverage became more sleazy and salacious and whitebread America became suddenly aware of the existence of sociopath's in their midst. Particularly teenage sociopaths. "A group of schoolteachers develop car trouble while driving to an LA Dodgers game and pull into a remote junkyard looking for help. When they look for the owners they find only their half-eaten lunch… as if the missing owner's meal was suddenly interrupted! It was, of course, by twitchy Arch Hall Jr. and his wonderfully creepy/spacey nympho girlfriend. The troubled pair proceed to humiliate and terrorize the hapless teachers." "All right, I'll admit it. I'll jump at any excuse to watch Arch Hall, Jr. in his crowning achievement, THE SADIST. This is the only known print in the world of the British re-titled release of said film, FACE OF TERROR. You may not know it, but certain words which are fairly tame in the U.S. such as "bastard" and "sadist" are absolutely verboten in the U.K. (much the same as the F word is here), hence the title change. In Arch Junior's brief but blistering career, he managed to star in a musical, a j.d. flick, a wide screen western, a zany spy comedy, a caveman/rock/love story, and this, an authentically thrilling and critically acclaimed psycho thriller. Low-budget, minimalist setting; trio of innocents terrorized by leering ultra-punk Archie and pals, bleakly photographed to perfection by William (Vilmos) Zsigmond. For years there have been rumors of a big budget remake. If you've never seen THE SADIST, don't let another day go by. Absolute required viewing." – Johnny Legend 
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