If you want to truly be scared out of your socks, we strongly recommend the hellishly horrific low-budgeter Profile of Terror. Arch Hall Jr., heretofore the colorless star of such cheapies as Wild Guitar and Eegah!, is disturbingly convincing as a sadistic thrill killer. When three schoolteachers (Richard Alden, Marilyn Manning and Don Russell), en route to an LA Dodgers game, pull up at a deserted gas station, they are held captive by Hall and his wacko girlfriend Helen Hovey. Harboring a psychotic hatred of teachers, Hall gleefully torments his prisoners, killing Russell while the latter is on his knees, begging for his life. Every time we think that this film can't get any more agonizing, the insanely giggling Hall pulls off yet another outrage. By the time Hall faces his well-deserved demise, you'll be hard pressed not to jump out of your chair and scream "Get him! GET HIM!!!" Stunningly photographed by Vilmos Zsigmond, Profile of Terror may well be the greatest exploitation flick ever made (and we're taking into consideration Night of the Living Dead). The film is better known by its original title, The Sadist.
