“Dear Sir, we regret to inform you that following a complete review of your testing and background history, your application to Academy Training is denied. It is also my professional opinion and recommendation that you seek psychological counseling through a private psychologist or organization as soon as possible.”
In the movies there are a lot of triggers that drive serial killers into their chosen field. Relentless wasn’t the first or last film to use being rejected to a police academy as such a trigger. In fact, Relentless was director Willaim Lustig’s second film to use the plot. Just a year earlier he directed Maniac Cop, and a year later he would direct Maniac Cop 2 as well as sign on as producer for the 2012 remake, Maniac. So it’s a well he’s been to a few times. Relentless was less a blood-and-gore show than the others, and it was actually thanks to Sam Raimi that he was able to use the name. Rami had directed a comedy a couple of years earlier with the name. Now titles can’t be protected by a copyright. I’m sure you’ve noticed many songs and books with the same name. But The Motion Picture Association does use a system to keep such confusion from running amuck, and under that compact Raimi did, indeed, need to give his OK. Obviously he did, and gets a special thanks in this film’s credits. Mill Creek has brought it back out in the open as part of their Retro-VHS series on Blu-ray, and it’s actually one of their better additions.
“I called to see if you were home. I have to kill you tonight.”
Buck, played by Judd Nelson, had an abusive father who pushed him into the standards he knew as a police officer. The result was a twisted psychopath who turns deadly when the police, rightfully, deny his application. He’s not your usual serial killer. He found his victims by using a phone book. A little history for you young folks. Back in the day there wasn’t an internet available to the general public. No PC’s and no cell phones. Our telephones were attached by wires to the walls, and they couldn’t take videos or provide us with directions. If we didn’t know someone’s phone number, we had these books that were issued each year with everyone’s address and phone number. Crazy, right? So Buck looks for specific names, and he even calls his targets to “see if they were home” because he had to kill them that night. The first warned target even brought a recording of the warning to the police. They filed it away and would get back to him in a few days. Of course, he got killed that night. The second target called 911 and got one of those “Your call is important to us” messages. You see, when seconds count, the police are only minutes away. Hey, maybe that’s why they call it the Second Amendment.
Enter newly-minted Detective Sam Dietz, played by Leo Rossi. He used to work in New York and had “fond” memories of their capture of the Son of Sam murderer. His veteran new partner is grizzled old Detective Bill Malloy, played by Robert Loggia. Sam tries to actually, you know, investigate the crimes, but the other cops think he’s just showing off. He’s encouraged by his wife, Carol, played by Meg Foster, to stick to it. Thus plays out the cat-and-mouse game of cop and killer. Eventually Sam is under a lot of heat to shut up and go along, but the serial killer takes him more seriously, and the killings start to become personal.
Loggia puts on the better performance as the dismissive elder cop. He has more presence, and there are moments when I think it might have been better if they flipped the switch. The younger cop doesn’t want to make waves, and the seasoned guy knows what’s going on. The reason is Leo Rossi. His performance just falls flat. He’s going through the motions here, and it’s obvious when he’s around almost anyone else. Meg Foster’s Carol was really just a small part to give him emotional support, but like everyone else, she steals his thunder every time. Perhaps it’s the way it was written or even directed, because the performance just feels so phony. And that takes away from the immediate tension of the whole thing. Fortunately, Judd Nelson is quite compelling as Buck, and the rest of the cast truly shine. It’s almost as if they were playing in a different movie than Rossi. I suspect it’s why Rossi didn’t end up with the career of everyone else in the film.
There aren’t any bonus features here, and the audio and video stuff isn’t going to knock off anyone’s socks. But it fits nicely with the Mill Creek series of films, and it’s a nice blast from the past. This was just as serial killer movies started to lean toward the profilers in a new sub-genre that likely started with Silence Of The Lambs. You can see those seeds being planted, but it ends up really a nice little cat-and-mouse film. There are some elements of the love/hate relationships of the buddy cop movies. I know it’s hard to figure out which of these retro films is worth your time. There are a lot of stinkers. But there are also a few gems. Need help figuring out which ones to watch? “It’s easy. Let me help you.”
