Released in 1971 while the actual real-life Zodiac Killer’s jaunt across the San Francisco Bay Area was still very much fresh in the public’s minds, director Tom Hanson has said that his sole reason for making the film was to attract the elusive killer’s attention and, ultimately, to apprehend them. Assuming an egotistical murderer wouldn’t be able to pass up the opportunity to watch a movie based on his crimes, Hanson’s idea was to ask moviegoers to write on cards before entering the theatre, which were then examined in the hope that eventually the killer’s handwriting might be identified, letting staff know that the perpetrator was in attendance. The plan didn’t work, the Zodiac’s identity is still a mystery 50 years later and the film faded into obscurity, but hey, it’s a neat story.
While the film itself is technically proficient and there’s a surprising amount of laughs, your average viewer would find a lot to complain about – wildly varying levels of acting ability and seriously dated dialogue are among the major problems, along with an almost overbearingly horrendous attitude towards women which can make for some uncomfortable viewing. The washed-out print, restored from the only known surviving original print, gives the whole thing a gritty and grimy feel, which is pretty much what you want from these forgotten relics of the old grindhouse days. There’s certainly plenty for aficionados of obscure oddities to get stuck into though, and if nothing else the fact that this is surely the only time in history that anyone’s made a movie to try to catch a killer makes it quite the curiosity.
On the extra features, there’s a very brief interview with director Tom Hanson and producer Manny Nedwick, who both also appear on the full-length audio commentary track alongside staff from the American Genre Film Archive. It’s always a pleasure to hear about how these forgotten films came into existence, and even more enjoyable when the participants are as affable as these chaps are. There’s also a bonus film, the 70-minute Another Son of Sam, which sees a team of law enforcement officers pursuing a splatter-happy escapee from a local asylum. Much like the main feature, it’s competently put together but the writing and acting are nowhere near even approaching acceptable levels of quality. Despite the flaws of both movies on this disc, fans of trashy old cinema will still find them to be very watchable and entertaining.
The Zodiac Killer is available on Blu-ray now as part of 101 Films’ AGFA collection.
