THE PSYCHOPATH (1975)
Article 2398 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 10-20-2007
Posting Date: 3-6-2008
Directed by Larry G. Brown
Featuring Tom Basham, Gene Carlson, Gretchen Kanne

The host of a children’s television show has a hobby on the side; he murders the abusive parents of fans of the TV show.

This movie has a pretty bad rep, but I have to admit it was pretty effective in at least two regards; it does a good job at making you hate the abusive parents, and you feel the frustration of the doctors and the police in dealing with the abusive situations. However, the movie pulls the rug from under itself through a combination of bad music choices, confusing direction, and a ludicrous performance from Tom Basham as the title character, Mr. Rabbey; he’s so over-the-top that you’re surprised anyone would allow him near their children in the first place. The movie’s twist manages to be both queasily strange and patently obvious at the same time, no mean feat. Oddly enough, there are two versions of this movie; one with the murders and one without; my version is the one with the murders. The movie also features Bruce Kimball, who has more than a passing resemblance to Joe Don Baker, which I didn’t notice when he gave his awful performance as the witch doctor in THE MIGHTY GORGA .