Exoticalot
People are voting emotionally.
JinRoz
For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!
TrueHello
Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.
cbig-88795
I don't understand all of these positive reviews. All the reasons given for this being a good film are exactly why I think this movie stinks. Arch Hall Jr. not only is a horrible actor, he is a horrible looking actor. Not entertaining, not suspenseful, not compelling, just a really, really, really bad piece of cinematic garbage.
Red-Barracuda
If you have seen the bizarre cult movie Eegah (1962) before approaching The Sadist, you could be forgiven for being a little concerned. After all, both films are notable for featuring Arch Hall Jr in a starring role. Hall displayed such a remarkable lack of acting talent in the earlier film that it seemed inconceivable that he would be in the least bit threatening as a psychopath in a gritty thriller. Well, all I can say is that the Arch hall Jr of The Sadist is like a man reborn. He quite literally is excellent here.The film has a plot as simple as can be - three teachers pull up at a deserted junkyard in a remote location and are quickly held captive by a psychotic young couple. It's a lean story with no wastage whatsoever. It really is a very good example of how to make an effective low-budget movie, where the lack of resources never gets in the way. In fact, this is a quite hard-hitting thriller for its era and has some tough scenes. Some characters are killed when you don't think they will be and, generally, it surprises.As I said before Hall plays the sadist of the title but he is not the only standout performer, Marilyn Manning is very good too as his unhinged girlfriend. Her character is an interesting one, as she says nothing throughout except inaudible whispers to Hall, yet she manages to create a fascinating character and projects a quite magnetic screen presence. There are only five other actors in the entire cast, they all do solid rather than memorable work. The film benefits too from great cinematography from Vilmos Zsigmond who went on to be director of photography in such high profile later films such as Deliverance (1972), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) and The Deer Hunter (1978). In this little movie he manages to utilise the clutter-filled environs of the junkyard to fantastic effect, especially in the latter suspenseful pursuit scenes where three different characters navigate their way around the junk-filled landscape where we sometimes see them all captured simultaneously on screen in different parts of the yard. The direction by James Landis is pacey and certainly makes the most of the limited set-up. Ultimately, this is well acted, photographed and directed. And this combination amounts to one of the great 60's B-movies.
jukangliwayway
Don't mind the fact that this is a low-budget film made in 1963. Or that Arch Hall Jr. has a cheesy filmography to boast (or not) about. The Sadist is one of those B-movies that stands the test of time and deserves every bit of recognition it could get. The only thing that's dated in this film, aside from the clothes, is the Coca-Cola bottle. It's seriously one of the most tension-filled movie I've seen from start to finish - especially that climax! Modern film makers could learn a thing or two from this little black & white exploitation movie that's unfortunately, undeservingly buried in obscurity - unbeknownst to most people.This movie is suspenseful and thrilling from start to finish. It has no gore (you can see a bit of blood in some scenes but that's about it), no over the top violence, no sex, it was made in the 60's with a budget of more or less 33,000 dollars - and yet, the terror is so thick, the scenes are taut - this is a truly well-directed film and in my honest opinion, a far more superior movie than most big-budgeted horror- thrillers nowadays. The extra long climax was one of the most well- executed scenes I've seen.go here for my full review :) http://strangereview.blogspot.com/2013/11/why-sadist-is-best-torture- you-can.html
randy4866
This is, quite likely, the worst movie ever made. The acting and dialog are right out of a Middle School play. If this could be considered art, then a chimp pooping on a canvas should be hanging in the MOMA. This is the sort of tripe about which pretentious, hipster snobs in the 60s would have had profound coffee table discussions. The most over-hyped piece of crap I've ever sat through. This makes some of the scare movies from the 1950s look like Ingmar Bergman, but this is just a low-budget piece of trash, probably knocked out in a slow afternoon on some director's ranch. Made during a period when just about anything qualified as an 'art' flick.
