Intelligent psycho drama inspired by "real life case histories", or rather, the story of an actual thrill killer named Charles Schmid Jr., a.k.a. "The Pied Piper of Tucson". A character who prefigured guys like Ted Bundy and Charles Manson, he is here named Skipper Todd, and is played by Robert F. Lyons. Skipper is a shiftless yet undeniably charismatic 23 year old man. The youths of the town of Darlington are completely enamoured of Skipper; he's one of those guys where the girls want to be with him and the boys want to *be* him. However, Skippers' outwards demeanour masks a dark side. And some of his associates are all too willing to help him cover up his crimes.
All things considered, I can see how some people would find this film off putting. It is a sleazy story, to be sure, but it's compelling in a very sobering way. It does have some pertinent things to say about the way that people can find themselves drawn in by the force of someones' personality, for good or bad. Skipper is a mostly cool, unflappable type who makes it through police interrogations without flinching. His mom (portrayed by Barbara Bel Geddes) largely puts up with a lot of his aimlessness, and his new acquaintance Billy Roy (a pre-'Waltons' Richard Thomas) regards him with awe.
Well photographed in Panavision by Harold E. Stine, with a powerful score by Leonard Rosenman, "The Todd Killings" serves as a rather picturesque depiction of rural California in the early 1970s. Performances are all right on the money, with a large number of familiar faces on hand: Belinda Montgomery, Sherry Miles, Holly Near, James Broderick, Gloria Grahame, Fay Spain, Edward Asner, Michael Conrad, William Lucking, Meg Foster, George Murdock, Harry Lauter, Eddie Firestone, Eve Brent, Jack Riley, and an uncredited Geoffrey Lewis.
The opening sequence is a grabber, and producer / director Barry Shear prefers to just plunge us into the action, saving all of the acting and technical credits for the final few minutes. Close-ups are used to good effect, and Shear gives us an honest, unflattering account of these turbulent times in American history and a memorable antagonist who's very much up front about his contempt towards the world in general.
Seven out of 10.
