B-movie hack Ray Dennis Steckler (who's gotten quite the cult following in the years since directing such films as this and The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living And Become Mixed-Up Zombies) has crafted a decent horror/crime thriller that still suffers from its low budget and some silliness. Steckler also stars (billed as Cash Flagg) as a bad-ass murderer who ends-up getting together with a group of three escaped mental paitents that have taken a bunch of people hostage at a remote diner after terrorizing the California countryside.

Like a lot of Steckler's films this feels like a patched-together jumble of ideas only this time he manages to keep it mostly coherent with a nice credits sequence, murder scenes that are quite effective (the opening one was also unexpected) and a "pulp" feel to the whole proceedings that help make this a completely watchable time. Check out that Twilight Zone-like opening narration, wonder why one loony can polish an axe in the diner without rousing suspicion and have a chuckle at the "cowboy" finale where Steckler runs from a police motorcycle on horseback.

This is probably Steckler's best film and is rather entertaining despite some weak moments, a couple of poorly staged suspense sequences and obvious budget limitations.

Directed By: Ray Dennis Steckler.
Written By: Gene Pollock, Ray Dennis Steckler.

Starring: Cash Flagg (Steckler), Liz Renay, Brick Bardo, Carolyn Brandt.