From the man who brought you "The Incredibly Strange Creatures" and "Rat Pfink A Boo Boo" comes the twisted tale of 'homicidal maniacs on a bloody rampage'! Ride with 'Mad Dog' Click and the Headchoppers Three as Ray Dennis Steckler presents his most intense film - the shocking THRILL KILLERS!

Joe Saxon is a wanna-be actor; he so wants to believe he'll be a big star one day he denies the reality that he is just one of the nameless masses looking for work in Hollywood. Dennis Kesdakain is a family man, who harbors no illusion about the reality of providing for his loved ones. But in this day, fate has a swerve in store for Dennis. The kind-hearted man stops to help a hitchhiker - and that desperate hoodlum shoots him dead! Mort "Mad Dog" Click is back in town, and no one in Hollywood is safe! Meanwhile, Joe continues to live the 'actor's lifestyle", throwing a lavish party he can't afford. His wife Liz is at the end of her tether; producers at his party actually make fun of Joe's movies right in front of him, and the dumb schmuck stands there and takes it. Liz tells Joe she wants him to give up on his crazy dream, but he says all it will take is one phone call. In the seedy section of town, Mad Dog gets a 'date', and boy, did she ever get the wrong john! As Mad Dog works out his…umm…issues, the radio informs the populace of three maniacs who've escaped from the asylum. As if the people didn't have enough to worry about…

Ron and his fiancée Carol have breakfast at Linda's inn up in the hills. They're there to see a house they're thinking of buying from old Hank after the wedding. Linda wishes them well as they head off. Liz finally gets fed up with Joe and leaves him, arriving at Linda's for coffee and conversation - Linda is her cousin. As the girls kibitz, Ron and Carol reach Hanks', but the old codger isn't there. They investigate, finding his record player on and food on the table, but no Hank. When they check out the unfinished rental house in back, well, they're in for a surprise. Ron and Carol come face to face with Herbie, Keith and Gary - the escaped nutcases! The lunatics then terrorize poor Ron and Carol. What will become of out erstwhile actor and his lady? And what part in the horror does a very vengeful Mad Dog play? Who will live - and what will be left of them?

In his interview on the DVD of THRILL KILLERS, Steckler states that after 'Creatures", he just wanted to make 'another film'. What he made is a tight suspenseful movie that I feel is his most coherent film. The scenes of the escaped inmates terrorizing Ron and Carol at the house are incredibly intimidating, the showdown in the diner is as tense as any film noir sequence, and the long motorcycle/horse chase is cleverly edited to maximize its effectiveness.

The actors (Steckler's usual stable of friends, wives, and investors) do a mostly decent job of really get into their characters, resulting in some of the best-played scenes and since Ray doesn't really use a script, were almost all improvised. But you'd never know it from the way the characters interact - it adds a believability to the film that Ray's better known films don't tend to have. Even Brick Bardo's bland portrayal of Joe is a credit to his nebbish screen character. Now there are of course trademark 'Steckler-isms' - a long chase sequence through the hills, his kids getting cute cameos, and some meandering camera shots. For the majority of the film, THRILL KILLERS is tightly constructed which enhances its shocks and surprises. Presented in its original black & white (which also contributes to the film's overall effectiveness), the quality is pretty good for a film being almost 40 years old. Media Blasters did a nice job cleaning up the print and the b/w contrast is well balanced. Audio has also been cleaned up. The music by Henry Price is his usual great jazz/rockabilly sound.

Media Blasters has done their usual fine job of releasing THRILL KILLERS on DVD. There is the afore-mentioned interview with Ray, outlining his creation of THRILL KILLERS, as well as an optional full-length commentary by Steckler that is must-see TV. Ray's anecdotes and reminiscing is worth your time - and thanks for all your help, Boo Boo! (Now you gotta see the film with commentary to know what the heck I'm talking about!) Also included is the original color opening prologue - Steckler was going to release the film in 'Hallucinogenic Hypnovision", complete with a shrink 'hypnotizing" the audience. They would have hurt the film if they had stayed in, and the quality is suspect, but it's a neat extra nonetheless. More features include a still gallery of behind-the-camera pix; radio spots for "Maniacs on the Loose" (one of THRILL KILLERS many aliases), and trailers for Ray's other fine cinematic fare. All in all, a (dare I say?) killer DVD.

Many moons ago when I worked in a video store, "Creatures", "Rat Pfink" and THRILL KILLERS were first released on video. I knew the notorious reputation of the first two films, but I decided to give THRILL KILLERS a chance. I am glad I did. Now released on DVD with a nice clean print and loads of extras, I am more than ever sure that THRILL KILLERS is Ray Dennis Steckler's best film.

Hey Mad Dog, will you lower that axe now?