THE MAD BOMBER (1973)
Label: Severin Films
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 91 Minutes
Audio: English 5.1 Surround, English 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: Bert I. Gordon
Cast: Chuck Connors, Neville Brand, Vince Edwards
Director Bert I. Gordon (Food Of The Gods) was best-known for his giant monster movies, but this curio from the early '70s sees him in crime-thriller exploitation mode, in a flick about a disgruntled citizen terrorizing Los Angeles with a sting of bombings. The titular mad-bomber is William Dorn (Chuck Connors, Tourist Trap) who is planting deadly bombs across Los Angeles to express his anger over his daughter's drug overdose. Connors wears these tiny little spectacles in a suit and tie, walking down the street and accosting people he feels are breaking the law or just being rude. When a guy (Royce D. Applegate, Splash) in a sports car honks his car horn at him while he's in the crosswalk he goes lectures the guy about having the right of way as a pedestrians, reaches in and pulls his keys out of the ignition and drops them in a nearby mail drop box on the nearby corner.
On the case of the bombing is Det. Geronimo Minnelli (Vince Edwards, Cellar Dweller), and he has no clue who the bomber might be, but they catch a break when he bombs a psychiatric center, and the cops discover that one of the mute patients (Christina Hart, Charley Varrick) was raped, and deduce that because of where he raped the woman the rapist must have seen the bomber. To that end Minnelli organizes a group of lady cops to dress sexy and walk the streets hoping to bait the rapist into an attack - and it works! The rapist turns out to be George Fromley (Neville Brand, Eaten Alive), a serial rapist who when he not raping hangs out at home jerking it to homemade porn that he's made with is wife (Ilona Wilson, Airplane II: The Sequel). I love that the key to identifying the bomber is a depraved rapes, the idea really highlights the nuttiness of this sleazy exploitation entry, because making a rapist the key witness allows for their to be plenty of nudity in this seedy L.A. bomber flick.
Everyone is just chewing up scenery here left and right, and I am loving it. When the rapist is seen on the news identifying the bomber and making gest of his what kind of man he is Connor's character of course goes after him at home, blowing the guy up while he's jerking it to homemade porn. I don't think Connor's is especially terrific here, the acting is rather poor in my opinion, but it's plenty over the top just like everything else that is happening here so it absolutely works for the film, as he walks around the city with is tiny glasses wild-eyedly chastises litterers and rule-breakers, making this feel like a pretty direct precursor to something like the disgruntled citizen flick Falling Down. and it works for me, this is quite a terrific exploitation gem, chock full of sleaze and nudity, deranged characters, and shitty police work, including a super-computer that is fed information Weird Science style and sputters out leads for the cops, which was just weird.
Audio/Video: The Mad Bomber (1973) arrives on region-free Blu-ray from Severin Films in 1080p HD framed in 1.85:1 widescreen, sourced from a 4K scan of the internegative, with The Police Connection title card. The image looks solid, grain is preserved and well-managed, colors are robust, and black levels are decent. There's some softness that look inherent to the source in a couple of shots, but detail and depth are modestly pleasing. Audio comes by way of both English DTS-HD MA 2.0 dual-mono and 5.1 surround with optional English subtitles. Both tracks are clean and well-balanced, I found the mono more to my liking, sounds of gunfire, explosions and the Michel Mention score come through just fine.
Extras start off with Audio Commentary By House Of Psychotic Women Author Kier-La Janisse With Retired Bomb Squad Detective Mike Digby, the addition of Digby is in interesting, so we get not only Janisse' in-depth look at the cast and crews, but Digby speaks of several real-life bombing incident that seem to inform the move and getting into the bomb making aspects of the film. There's also an 80-min Audio Interview With Director Bert I. Gordon Conducted By David Del Valle that plays as alternate commentary track, with Gordon talking about his career at length which is quite interesting. We also get the 27-min Patricia Gordon Remembers Her Father, offering a look at him as not just a director but as a father, and then onto the 11-min To Be In The Moment – Interview With Actress Cynthia MacAdams who talks of how she was cast and what her experience of making the film was like, as well as her thoughts on the film 50 years after making it. The 10-min On The Trail Of The Mad Bomber – Locations Featurette offers a then and now comparison of a handful of locations.
Another nice add is the 8-min The Mad Bomber TV Cut presented in HD in 1.33:1 aspect ratio with uncompressed audio, looking less stellar than the uncut version but it's cool to have it on disc. Disc extras are buttoned-up with the Isolated Score (DTS HD-MA 2.0 Dual-Mono) highlighting Michel Mention's score, plus a selection of
TV Spots.
The single-disc Blu-ray release arrives in a black keepcae with a single-sided wrap with what looks to be the original movoe poster artwork. Inside there's a 16-Page Illustrated Booklet with the The Mad Bomber Story – Essay By Andy Turner With Exclusive Images From Still Photographer Carol Gordon. There's also a Limited Edition Severin Store Web Exclusive Slipcover with embossed lettering on the front cover and both spines with alternate artwork, that also looks to be theatrical poster artwork.
Special Features:
- Audio Commentary By House Of Psychotic Women Author Kier-La Janisse With Retired Bomb Squad Detective Mike Digby
- Isolated Score (DTS HD-MA 2.0 Dual-Mono)
- Audio Interview With Director Bert I. Gordon Conducted By David Del Valle (Plays as Alternate Commentary Track) (79:53)
- Patricia Gordon Remembers Her Father (26:59)
- To Be In The Moment – Interview With Actress Cynthia MacAdams (11:03)
- On The Trail Of The Mad Bomber – Locations Featurette (10:17)
- The Mad Bomber TV Cut (87:31) HD
- TV Spots (0:28) +33
- The Mad Bomber Story – Essay By Andy Turner With Exclusive Images From Still Photographer Carol Gordon
The Mad Bomber (1973) is a terrifically entraining slice of '70s exploitation from director Bert I. Gordon (Empire of the Ants), featuring wildly unhinged performances from Neville Brand, Chuck Connors and Vince Edwards, and absolutely dripping with sleaze and absurdity, so yeah, it's a definite recommended from me.
Buy it!
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