A 1987 crime drama written, produced, and directed by William Friedkin that has a serial killer (Alex Mc Arthur) being tried by a prosecutor (Michael Biehn) and the killer escapes to kill again.
The movie also stars Nicholas Campbell, Deborah Van Valkenburgh, John Harkins, Art LaFleur, Billy Greenbush, and Royce D Applegate.
It was released on September 11, 1987.
Tropes for the film:
- Creepy Gas-Station Attendant: The cannibalistic and necrophilic Charles Reece.
- Hollywood Law: The movie portrays the case of an accused serial killer, Charles Reece, using the insanity defense fairly realistically until the end, when the jury finds him guilty. New evidence comes to light proving he has paranoid schizophrenia, causing delusions his blood was poisoned and that he needed to kill people for theirs. His defense attorney says (accurately) that it can be used as a mitigating factor when the jury decides if he should be sentenced to death or life without parole. But then the film ignores this, with the jury recommending that he be committed to a mental institution based on the new evidence, when their only legal options were death or life, having already rejected his insanity defense (Truth in Television: the insanity defense is successful only about 25% of the time and is used in just 1% of cases. In some states it's also been abolished entirely). If they acquitted him by reason of insanity, then he would be committed (and, unlike the film's suggestion, most likely never be released). An appeal on the new evidence might be a possibility, but it's less dramatic (80s films apparently liked to show obviously guilty bad guys being "freed on technicalities", even when legally impossible).
- One-Word Title: Rampage.
