Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Bergorks If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

Rio Hayward All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Roxie The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

seymourblack-1 Surprisingly, for a movie that runs for only 78 minutes, "The Killer Is Loose" features a bank robbery, a jailbreak and a manhunt as well as a series of murders, a home invasion and a stalking sequence before eventually reaching its tense climax. More importantly though, it's a well-written revenge thriller that does a particularly good job of explaining the reasons for the killer's psychosis and by doing so with great pace and clarity, ensures that the story's excitement, suspense and enjoyment are all kept at a high level from start to finish.One day, when he's carrying out his routine duties, bank teller Leon "Foggy" Poole (Wendell Corey) is confronted by his old Army sergeant Otto Flanders (John Larch) and immediately feels uncomfortable because this man habitually used to ridicule him when they served together in the South Pacific and unkindly named him "Foggy" because of his poor eyesight. Before they can become fully reacquainted, however, it becomes evident that the bank is being robbed and as the thieves make their escape, Poole is injured after trying to stop one of them from getting away.Shortly after, when LAPD Detective Lieutenant Sam Wagner (Joseph Cotten) is investigating, he quickly recognises that Poole was actually an accomplice to the heist and with a few of his colleagues, goes to the bank teller's apartment to arrest him. Unfortunately, whilst in the process of doing this, Wagner unintentionally shoots and kills Poole's wife.Poole, who's devastated by his wife's death, is sent to prison for his crimes and becomes determined to take revenge by killing Wagner's wife, Lila (Rhonda Fleming). After a two and a half year period of exemplary behaviour, Poole is transferred to the state honour farm and uses the opportunity to affect his escape by killing one of the guards. He then also kills a neighbouring farmer so that he can use the man's truck and clothes to make his getaway without being recognised.On hearing about Poole's escape, Wagner attempts to protect his now pregnant wife from any anxiety or danger by moving her out of their house temporarily and staying there himself in the hope that the killer will come looking for Lila and be apprehended by the police officers who are keeping his home under constant surveillance. Poole's progress is delayed by the various roadblocks that he has to contend with and after becoming tired and hungry, he makes his way to Otto's house where he terrorises his old sergeant's wife and demands to be fed. When Otto comes home, Poole kills him before continuing with his mission. Detective Wagner's plan seems to be working well until Lila fully realises what's going on and puts herself in danger by heading home to be with her husband.Despite its modest budget, this movie features a good cast of actors whose performances more than adequately meets the requirements of their various roles. Wendell Corey, however, is exceptional as the soft-spoken killer who's quietly terrifying at times but is also quite vulnerable in certain ways because of the humiliation that he'd been subjected to in his life and the cruel way in which he'd lost the only person who'd never ridiculed him. The way in which Corey makes his psychopathic character's various qualities credible is tremendously subtle, well-balanced and totally convincing and also one of the most powerful reasons for watching this fine movie.

Wizard-8 I recorded this off Turner Classic Movies because my research uncovered some good reviews and because the premise of the movie sounded promising. After watching it, I would label it an okay movie, nothing more or less. The movie does get some things right. The climax of the movie is fairly tense (even though the Production Code at the time makes what happens pretty predictable), and Wendell Corey makes for an intriguing villain, being weak at times while at other times being pretty ruthless. But there's a problem with his character - I don't think that there's quite enough time devoted to this character. I think a few more scenes showing him unfold his plans for vengeance would have made his character stronger. Instead, the movie seems to be more interested in the lead cop character and his wife, which eventually gets to be quite tiresome, especially since the wife doesn't come across as totally likable (or smart). But the movie is never dull, and has some really good moments (the best being when the Corey character confronts an old army acquaintance). So when you balance the good and bad stuff, the movie ends up being okay.

LeonLouisRicci By the Mid 1950's the Stylish, Expressionistic, and Piercing Pictures called Film-Noir were Out of Favor because of the Less Pessimistic Persona of a Suburban Saturated Society that began to heavily Influence American Pop Culture.The Urban Environment was becoming increasingly more Lower Class and that generally is unattractive to Movie Audiences of the Main Stream who were now, more than ever, Isolating Themselves in a Coating of a Prefabricated Paradise.This Film was one that Transplanted the Noir Sensibility out of the City and in to Nice Homes with Lawns and Shiny Kitchen Appliances, TV sets, and Marital Myopia. But Uh-Oh, Not as Safe as it Seems. "The Killer is Loose" and He is about to Upset "Utopia".The Director's (Budd Bottechier) Edgy Style combined with a very Convincing Cross-Dressing, Catatonic who Talks to Himself and Viciously and Violently acts in a Detached, very Modern Serial-Killer Sociopathic Trance is Disturbingly Delivered and the Shadows in the Post-Modern Soul cannot be Illuminated by the Brightly Lit "Fenced" Community and all of its Electric Eccentricities.A Tale of Things to Come.

st-shot Respected western auteur Budd Boetticher is woefully out of place with this choppy modern day cops and robbers story that suffers from a strong lack of emotional believability. Boetticher seems to have waived rehearsal time and settled for the first take as leads Joe Cotton and Rhonda Fleming put little effort into their roles, delivering lines flatly and without energy. Mild mannered employee Leon "Foggy" Poole works as an inside man on a bank job that goes bad and gets his wife killed in the process. He escapes from prison and immediately sets out to kill the wife of the detective who killed his. Hundreds of cops are mobilized to keep him from getting to the home of the intended who has been moved to another location but wouldn't you know in the films final moments we have Foggy trailing feet behind the victim (who thought somehow that taking a bus back to the house was a sound move) while a company of cops observe and bicker over what action to take. Sound preposterous? You should see it. It's all of that and more. Lucien Ballard's camera work does a decent job of bringing noir to the suburbs but the editing is lackadaisical and shapeless and it drains the film of its suspense and pace. As Poole, Wendell Corey is the best thing in the film managing to evoke great sympathy as he transitions from gentle soul to murderer. These attributes aside Killer uniformly fails in construction and execution making its message clear. Go Western old Budd.