According to Retromedia the original print was destroyed in a fire and an old print was discovered in a warehouse. It has been very well restored by Fred Olen Ray and company.
This savage film was directed by James Landis who also directed the bleak "The Sadist" starring Arch Hall, Jr. The beautiful photography is by none other than Vilmos Zsigmond.
The story centers around a young man named Lonnie Price (Schuyler Hayden) who will do WHATEVER it takes to become famous. The film opens with Lonnie being chased off a train by detectives and then he stumbles onto a middle aged woman hanging her laundry outside.
She is extremely lonely and Lonnie takes advantage of her. He steals her money and disappears. Lonnie buys a guitar and travels to Los Angeles. He watches a very successful rock singer named Tommy Loomis (Don Snyder). Lonnie wants to be like Loomis so bad he sets him of fire after a concert and Loomis dies.
Lonnie then goes to Loomis' former manager and gets a contract to become a top singer. However, Lonnie isn't done yet. He tries to seduce his managers young wife and she ends up dying after they fight and he pushes her down the stairs. Later he gets a young teenage fan pregnant and he takes her to a veterinarian for an abortion.
She doesn't get the operation and so Lonnie drowns her in the ocean. When his manager discovers what Lonnie really is Lonnie races off in his sportscar and smacks a speeding train broadside...end of movie.
This film is a great little thriller and Schuyler Hayden is perfect for this role. He made only one more film before his untimely death at the age of 37 in a plane crash in 1978.
This little regional shocker really delivers the goods and it's a great thing this film was rediscovered. Films like this NEVER seem to get enough attention, and most of them I have seen are quite good.
If you enjoyed "The Sadist" you'll enjoy this as well. One of the best of it's kind.
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