The Zebra Killer is fast paced, violent (though without much on screen killing or gore), foul mouthed and overall a must-see cult flick.
The provocative serial killer that taunts black detective Frank Savage is quite a looney tune, and he has an agenda that reminded me of a film like Seven, although that's about all there is to compare.
The vibe is in my opinion quite different from other exploitation flicks; it's more directed at the hardship of a black cop in an overall white police force and in that sense has a strong feel of drama to it. Though the 'exploitation'-label is not at all unjust.
Concerning the logics of the story: Savage does not come across as a clever cop that sticks to the case like cheese to macaroni, but it all just seems to unfold at its own pace. And when he finally does use his brain to make a connection, it's all done in a matter of seconds... And the identity of the killer not being black, is quite already obvious when he appears at the second hit (the bombing). These are minuses, but don't spoil the whole film though. Not at all.
A great plus is the great music in it: a funky, strutting series of tracks, of which some are a little too uplifting for what is shown, to my taste (the fight between the killer and savage, and the opening scene), but one with the guitar noise at the end is just about perfect - some sort of funkrocknoise avant la lettre.
I'd say a big seven, which is so big I'm making it an eight...
The provocative serial killer that taunts black detective Frank Savage is quite a looney tune, and he has an agenda that reminded me of a film like Seven, although that's about all there is to compare.
The vibe is in my opinion quite different from other exploitation flicks; it's more directed at the hardship of a black cop in an overall white police force and in that sense has a strong feel of drama to it. Though the 'exploitation'-label is not at all unjust.
Concerning the logics of the story: Savage does not come across as a clever cop that sticks to the case like cheese to macaroni, but it all just seems to unfold at its own pace. And when he finally does use his brain to make a connection, it's all done in a matter of seconds... And the identity of the killer not being black, is quite already obvious when he appears at the second hit (the bombing). These are minuses, but don't spoil the whole film though. Not at all.
A great plus is the great music in it: a funky, strutting series of tracks, of which some are a little too uplifting for what is shown, to my taste (the fight between the killer and savage, and the opening scene), but one with the guitar noise at the end is just about perfect - some sort of funkrocknoise avant la lettre.
I'd say a big seven, which is so big I'm making it an eight...