Far and away the best film Bert I Gordon ever put his name to, THE MAD BOMBER is, on the surface, a routine police thriller that's uninspired as far as music, photography, etc goes. Where it's made much better than it had any right to be is with three great performances by the main leads - none of whom are . In an even better twist, it's the rapist who's probably the most 'sane' of the three! Vince Edwards is a bitter, almost Hitler-ish detective who routinely abuses his authority - where it be threatening witnesses at gunpoint, breaking and entering, or beating them half to death. He's out to catch a broken-down madman (Connors) who starts blowing buildings up out of revenge. And the only person who can provide any clues to finding the bomber is a rapist (Brand).
Edwards is great as the unhinged cop who falls slightly to the right of Judge Dredd. Brand - well-versed in dealing with gruff, sleazy characters - gives another memorable turn as a gruff and sleazy rapist. But it's Connors that steals the show (this is definitely his best performance!), and every scene he's in are the highlights of the movie. His villain is actually quite sympathetic, even though for a criminal, his behaviour isn't exactly low-profile - he can't even leave the house without attacking or arguing with somebody.
Gordon keeps things nice and fast-moving, and there are very few slow spots in the movie. And there's a good deal of suspense to be had in the last 15-20 minutes, where the bomber hopes to right the wrongs done to him, and he's going make the whole of L.A listen! How come movies like this don't get made now?
Though it's well worth seeing even in its cut version, THE MAD BOMBER is much more effective in its entirety and actually emerges as one of the more violent and sleazy thrillers to come out of the 1970s. As one reviewer has already pointed out, it has more gore, more nudity and more profanity (there's about five minutes extra footage) than most releases. For those who are curious to seek it out, the versions to get are either the American 'Program Hunters' tape or the Canadian 'Marquis' tape (which has quite a dark print) under the title THE POLICE CONNECTION. Every other video release - Stateside or no - and ALL DVD releases are the cut version.
Edwards is great as the unhinged cop who falls slightly to the right of Judge Dredd. Brand - well-versed in dealing with gruff, sleazy characters - gives another memorable turn as a gruff and sleazy rapist. But it's Connors that steals the show (this is definitely his best performance!), and every scene he's in are the highlights of the movie. His villain is actually quite sympathetic, even though for a criminal, his behaviour isn't exactly low-profile - he can't even leave the house without attacking or arguing with somebody.
Gordon keeps things nice and fast-moving, and there are very few slow spots in the movie. And there's a good deal of suspense to be had in the last 15-20 minutes, where the bomber hopes to right the wrongs done to him, and he's going make the whole of L.A listen! How come movies like this don't get made now?
Though it's well worth seeing even in its cut version, THE MAD BOMBER is much more effective in its entirety and actually emerges as one of the more violent and sleazy thrillers to come out of the 1970s. As one reviewer has already pointed out, it has more gore, more nudity and more profanity (there's about five minutes extra footage) than most releases. For those who are curious to seek it out, the versions to get are either the American 'Program Hunters' tape or the Canadian 'Marquis' tape (which has quite a dark print) under the title THE POLICE CONNECTION. Every other video release - Stateside or no - and ALL DVD releases are the cut version.