Classic Horrors Club

After emerging from a string of movies in the mid-1950s to late 1960s that earned him the nickname, “Mr. BIG,” Bert I. Gordon branched out a little with the comedy, How to Succeed with Sex (1970), and the crime thriller, The Mad Bomber (1973.) When I read the synopsis for the recent Severin Films blu-ray release of the latter, I knew I had to purchase it, even though I had never seen it:

A psycho citizen is planting deadly bombs across Los Angeles. A depraved rapist is the only witness who can identify him. And a deranged detective will break every rule in the book to bust them both.

Other descriptors like “70’s urban perversion” (Rock! Shock! Pop!) and “dynamite mix of grit and sleaze” (Flick Attack) sealed the deal. 

You’ll never believe it, but the hype was just a little misleading. Yes, Check Connors plays the titular mad bomber, William Dorn. Yes, Neville Brand plays the rapist, George Fromley. However, I wouldn’t call Vince Edwards’s detective, Lieutenant Geronimo Minnelli, “depraved.” And while he does go against Police Chief Marc C. Forester’s (Ted Gehring) orders, focusing on finding the rapist instead of the bomber, he doesn’t really break any rules.

The version on the blu-ray is called, The Police Connection, the name of its re-release. The Mad Bomber is a much better name and I would think it would more actively put butts in seats. The only other opening credits we see are those that include Gordon: written by (based on a story by Marc Behm), produced by, and directed by. I don’t recall if they included the “cinematography by” credit. It seems like a one-man show except for the fact that Gordon was hired to do all this by legendary exploitation producer/distributor, Jerry Gross. Gross produced only 12 movies, including I Drink Your Blood (1971) and The Black Godfather (1974), but released many more through his company, Cinematic Industries.

What stands out for me about The Mad Bomber is not the sleaze, which is plentiful, but the violence. The explosions that result from Dorn’s bombs in a school, state hospital, and top floor of a hotel, are spectacular, and I don’t usually like too many explosions in movies. However, it’s the carnage left behind that’s even more graphic. There’s no make-up artist credited, so perhaps the gore fell under the purview of special effects and Dutch Van Derbyl. Both makeup and special effects are expertly combined in a final shot that looks as if a man is really blown to bloody bits during an explosion.

Nudity is frequent and unashamed in The Mad Bomber. Dorn is clean as a whistle, but Fromley scouts his victims among hookers on the boulevard and nudie bars. When Minnelli follows a clue to one of the bars, a dancer preparing to go on stage asks him to undo her bra and strips in front of him as if it’s everyday behavior. Ah, the 70s. It’s hot-button issues like drug use and hippie culture that get under Dorn’s skin. There’s a reason for his reign of terror that we eventually learn, but he has everyday lessons for anyone who crosses him.

You just littered the street. Well, I want you to go back and pick it up. It’s people like you that make our world filthy my friend. You’re a pig! Now, go back and pick up your trash.

Even those who pay no attention to him might find themselves at the opposite end of a lesson about how to be civil. He writes letters to the police explaining his mission and they feed them into a big ol’ computer to analyze. I could have told them that if they identify the pattern, they will locate the bomber. What’s even more fun is the way the police department builds a sketch of the suspect with interchangeable facial characteristics. It’s kind of like one of those books with sections that you can open to different pages to create funny characters, except projected on a screen.

If you like movies that ooze the decade in which they’re made, The Mad Bomber is a must-see. If you like situations with outcomes that depend on a missing piece of a puzzle, it might not quite deliver on the promise of its hype, but it still works pretty darned well. And if you want to see familiar faces chewing the scenery, each with a singular focus that remains consistent throughout the story, you’ve got Connors, Brand, and Edwards. Finally, whether or not you care about any of this, you’ve got an exciting, fast-moving film that will blow your mind… or so the tagline says.