I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

1963 drive-in B-movie The Sadist might look like an early sixties film, but it sure feels like it came from the seventies, with a shocking realism and gritty atmosphere akin to films like Last House On The Left and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Inspired by the exploits of real life thrill-killers Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate, the film stars Arch Hall Jr. as Charlie Tibbs, who, along with his teenage girlfriend Judy (Marilyn Manning), torments three teachers, Ed (Richard Alden), Doris (Helen Hovey) and Carl (Don Russell), who have the misfortune of bumping into the pair of psychos after experiencing car trouble on their way to a ball game.What follows is a lean exercise in suspense, director James Landis expertly wringing every ounce of tension from the situation, especially when it becomes clear that Tibbs has no intention of letting his victims live. As Ed is forced to fix a car at gunpoint, he desperately tries to figure out a way to outwit Tibbs, but the killer isn't quite as stupid as he looks, anticipating every move. Landis handles the action, which unfolds in real time, with incredible skill, never letting the pace or tension drop, and commands superb performances from his cast, Hall Jr. being an utterly loathsome villain, and Hovey making for a very appealing heroine (what a shame that was her one and only movie).Landis also delivers one or two genuine gut-punches—scenes that deliver the kind of shock that stays with the viewer long after the film has finished—and rounds things off with a brilliant game of cat and mouse, as Doris, making a desperate bid for freedom, hides in a rundown house while Tibbs, brandishing a knife, closes in on his prey. I won't tell you what happens… that would spoil things; just watch this excellent film to find out for yourself.8.5 out of 10, rounded up to 9 for IMDb.

Wow, this gimpy legged grinning killer and his mute but sicko giggly girlfriend are impossible to scrub out of your brain. They make up for their mental midgetness with over the top murder and mayhem. When they jack off the soda pop bottle you know it's time for their next victim to beg for mercy in a fruitless attempt to go on living for one more minute.I loved the music during opening credits while the sadist's eyes burrowed into your soul. This was 1963, early days for this much madness on screen. Enjoy yourself watching this and expect to be yelling, "Run, you idiot, run!!!" more than once during the show.

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

Imbecilic melodrama, a would-be thriller, involves three people (a virginal young woman along with an older family man and a muscle number with no spine, both in skinny ties) terrorized by a mad-dog killer and his hayseed girlfriend at an isolated auto-body yard in southern California. Any claims that the gun-wielding psychotic here was based upon real-life killer Charles Starkweather are empty boasts; the low-budget film is witless, unpleasantly hammy, and presented without irony or skill. In the lead, Arch Hall Jr. does his best (so to speak) to squint and to snarl, but he isn't too frightening. The bravura snake-pit finale is commendable, as is Vilmos Zsigmond's black-and-white cinematography, but this is merely delinquent-teen nonsense, prolonged to an excruciating length. * from ****