I may be biased because Friedkin is one of my favorite directors so I am giving this film a 10. Friedkin is one of those rare directors who creates cinema with true compact urgency. He seems to be a throwback to John Ford or Howard Hawkes. His films are stripped to the bone and economical. Exciting.
Rampage is no exception. This is the tense (though admittedly dour) story of the capture and trial of serial killer Charlie Reece (a character based upon real-life serial killer Richard Chase), most of which is orchestrated by a district attorney character played by Michael Biehn. To be honest I have not watched this film in a number of years but I felt compelled to write about it because i so vividly remembered Alex McArthur's portrayal of the psycho, which is superb. He is frightening, especially those close-ups of his eyes in the courtroom scenes.
This film is interesting because we don't really see much killing on screen. Almost all of it happens off screen. Surprisingly, this makes it almost more unbearable because Reece's (and the real-life killer's) crimes were particularly hideous (he thought he was a vampire).
Additionally, I lived in Sacramento during the time Richard Chase was active and remember it quite well (my parents remember even better). This was not a pleasant guy. He was dangerous and what he did was unnerving. And I think the film captures that.
Rampage is no exception. This is the tense (though admittedly dour) story of the capture and trial of serial killer Charlie Reece (a character based upon real-life serial killer Richard Chase), most of which is orchestrated by a district attorney character played by Michael Biehn. To be honest I have not watched this film in a number of years but I felt compelled to write about it because i so vividly remembered Alex McArthur's portrayal of the psycho, which is superb. He is frightening, especially those close-ups of his eyes in the courtroom scenes.
This film is interesting because we don't really see much killing on screen. Almost all of it happens off screen. Surprisingly, this makes it almost more unbearable because Reece's (and the real-life killer's) crimes were particularly hideous (he thought he was a vampire).
Additionally, I lived in Sacramento during the time Richard Chase was active and remember it quite well (my parents remember even better). This was not a pleasant guy. He was dangerous and what he did was unnerving. And I think the film captures that.