AllMovie

The Killing Kind is a simple, but devastating thriller that genre aficionados should seek out for sick kicks. There's nothing new here that serial killer stories since Psycho haven't already told us; smothering moms of easy virtue raise boys who displace their sexual desires through murder. What makes The Killing Kind compelling is a great cast composed of up-and-coming stars, seasoned character players, and exploitation vets. As the disturbed Terry, John Savage gives a layered performance that swings between blank, smoldering menace (with his victims) and relaxed, cheerful playfulness (with his mother). Terry's victims display real panic as their final moments approach, particularly in the film's harrowing turning point with the hapless Cindy Williams, who later ends up in a garbage dump with rats crawling over her corpse. Lady lawyer Ruth Roman had starred the year before in another bizarre thriller called The Baby, and car crash/rape victim Susan Bernard is best remembered for the classic Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! Like-minded films of the era such as The Savage Intruder and I Dismember Mama also featured psychotics as lead characters with disturbing results, but The Killing Kind trumps them with great performances and unsettling violence that is visceral without plastic gore effects.