Review of Relentless (1989) by Ms Amanda J — 29 Dec 2010

When I was a kid, I passed by Relentless at a movie store and Judd Nelson's manic expression on the video cover made this movie a curiosity item for me. This is a rather quiet role for Judd Nelson who plays Buck Taylor but just by Buck's facial expressions alone, you can tell he's out of it.

Sure enough, he's a killer who needs both police interference and psychiatric help. This movie contains some generous flashbacks that tell the viewer how Buck's psychotic tendencies came to be.

Leo Rossi's surprisingly attractive in his role as detective Sam Dietz (especially when he isn't on duty and is at home with his wife and son) and his part in Relentless is quite different from the lowlife role he usually plays.

You won't really care about the victims (other than notice the posters on their walls or how beautiful their houses are) because they're on screen for a measly five or ten minutes before they get killed.

This isn't a slasher film so the victims aren't as developed as they can be. Instead, this is Buck's story, as well as Sam's, and both men are relentless in that Buck's very steady as the Sunset Killer, and Sam has an undying determination to crack the case.