Hurricane Billy’s examination of the dark complexities of the death penalty finally makes its way to 4k from Kino Lorber!
Kino Lorber has been doing the Lord’s work this year. Beyond an absolutely fantastic slate of releases, from ‘90s comedies to ‘70s action, as well as the release of one of my favorite action films, Dante’s Peak, in 4k this winter, they’ve also released a bevy of nearly impossible to find films on disc. This includes the Ilsa series, the incredibly awesome Night Of The Juggler, and Friedkin’s borderline lost film Rampage.
I had the misfortune of first seeing Rampage on a CD-R that we used to rent out in my video store clerk days. It was presented in open matte, meaning I could see every single boom mic, the picture was blown out to hell, looking more like a camcorder rip, and there were burned in Japanese subtitles throughout. But even then, I knew I was watching something special, a cinematic deep dive into the definition of legal insanity, undertaken by one of our greatest filmmakers. The fascination overrode the presentation annoyance so much that I ended up putting it on my employees pick wall.
And now, almost a decade later, Kino releases an absolutely gorgeous 4k, where I am finally able to enjoy it the right way!
After a rewatch of the original cut, my feelings remain the same; Friedkin created a fascinating courtroom drama that examines the legal definition of insanity, and where the line blurs. Michael Biehn plays Anthony Fraser, a soft spoken liberal district attorney who is asked to try a death penalty case, that of Charlie Reece (Alex MacArthur), a young man who butchered 5 innocent people and drank their blood. At first determined to save the man from the death penalty, the nature of the crime challenges his morals, as he begins to desire his death, and fights tooth and nail to have him found legally “sane”, and culpable of the murders.
Rampage dives pretty deeply into the definition of insanity, specifically its technical definition and legal definition. You see, in the United States, to be considered insane and not stand trial, the defense has to prove that the defendant does not understand the difference between right and wrong. They can have fantastical ideas about the world, even totally psychotic ones, but if it can be proven that there was an understanding that their actions were wrong (i.e. premeditation, attempts to cover up the crime, lying to investigators), they are considered sane. Rampage argues what that line truly is, and which side Charlie Reece stands on. These arguments include the definition of insanity against the holocaust, the expectations of those with mental disorders to operate within society, and how modern medical science can throw a wrench into our definitions.
Fascinatingly, it should be said that Friedkin based Rampage on an actual case; that of Richard Chase, the “Vampire of Sacramento”. Similar to Rampage’s Charlie Reece, Richard Chase walked into people’s homes and killed them by gunshot, before cutting them open to feast on their blood and organs (the details of the actual crimes are actually much, much worse than Rampage depictions, if you can believe it). Just like Reece, Richard Chase also was convinced he was losing blood, and needed to take it from others. Richard Chase was a huge court case in the late 1970s, as the courts tried to determine if he was guilty or insane. The matching details are actually pretty insane (ba-dum-tsk), including the outfits Chase wore and the bumper sticker on his car, which means William Friedkin was some sort of True Crime nut.
In a cast of dependable day players and character actors (Art LaFleur has the best “cop” face of all time), there are two specific performances I want to call out; that of Alex McArthur and Royce D. Applegate. Alex plays the titular killer, Charlie Reece, and his performance is deeply unsettling. Alex plays Charlie as both a cheeky rascal and a demented psychopath, with the ability to shift back into a dead eyed stare without hesitation. It is an unnerving performance, as Charlie goes from talking like an overly rambunctious kid, giving out half-knowing smiles and asking childlike questions, to sweating and heaving over a corpse, his eyes quivering with orgasmic excitement. One of the more chilling moments is his retelling of his murder of a mother and child, all of it told with shrugged shoulders and a childlike energy.
On the flip side of that coin is Royce D. Applegate, a dependable character actor who did a fair amount of TV and film work, which includes Splash and Alligator, and has one of those “I know that guy” supporting cast faces. Here, Royce plays the grieving husband Gene Tippetts, who comes home with one of his young sons to find his wife brutally murdered and his other son missing, presumed, and then confirmed dead. The character of Gene exists outside of the narrative for most of the runtime, where we periodically check in with him and his surviving son.
The way Royce plays the role of Gene, a grieving father, who also wants to give the world to his surviving son, is so deeply sad and beautiful, that I found myself having to pause more than a few times to compose myself. It is a beautiful B-side to the darkness of the main storyline, as we watch this father and son duo start to heal, and find moments of joy in their new life. Rampage ending on the two of them as they leave the carnival, with Gene telling his son a story about a castle on a hill, is the perfect way to end this; showing that, through all the pain and suffering, life goes on.
The Specs:
Like I mentioned before, Kino Lorber is doing outstanding work restoring these almost lost films. Just like their restoration of The Night Of The Juggler, it is almost unreal how good this looks now. This release includes both a new 4k scan of the 35mm original camera negative (original cut), as well as the 35mm interpositive (theatrical cut). This restoration has turned Rampage from an overlooked footnote in Friedkin’s career to being another great, more easily accessible film in his filmography.
For special features, Kino Lorber doesn’t disappoint, including audio commentaries with film historians Howard S. Berger and Nathaniel Thompson, an interview with actor Alex McArthur, an interview with true crime author Harold Schechter (easily my favorite special feature!), and a theatrical trailer.
Rampage has routinely been overlooked in Friedkin’s oeuvre. Completed in 1987 but languishing in distribution hell until 1992, it was viewed as a misstep after the success of To Live & Die In L.A. The fact that it was a massive pain in the ass to find on disc didn’t help its reputation. But now, with this gorgeous disc, I am incredibly excited for a new generation of cinephiles to be introduced to Hurricane Billy’s cinematic treatise on the death penalty!
It looks like there is at least one scene missing from the “original cut”. It was written about in Video Watchdog #13 and has “Reese” pleading to the court to spare his life after he was convicted.