Overview: From the early 60s, Film Masters brings you two independently produced films, both with their own cult following. Representative of the neo-noir crime films of that era, these regional films make for a perfect back-to-back viewing late at night!

The more famous of the two, Door-to-Door Maniac, originally released in 1961 as Five Minutes to Live. Starring Johnny Cash as a hardened criminal (Johnny Cabot), the wife (Cay Forester) of the bank vice president is taken hostage in her own home. What follows is a robbery gone awry in every way! Directed by Bill Karn, this thrilling crime-drama also stars Donald Woods. Also look for a very young Ronnie Howard in a small role, and Vic Tayback (best known as Mel from the TV show, Alice).

In the little-known film, Right Hand of the Devil, Aram Katcher makes his bid to become the next Hitchcock. While prominent movie director he is not, Turkish-born Katcher does star in the film ... and not just on-screen. Producer, story creator, editor, title designer, and costume designer are just some of the other roles he took with his magnum opus.

Katcher leads the cast as an ingenious criminal mastermind who hires a motley crew of questionable henchmen who are intent on robbing a sports arena. Along the way, and critical to their plans, he seduces a middle-aged cashier, but she is not so easily convinced as she may appear. Will Katcher triumph in his hard won leading role?

Blu-ray Verdict: Up first is Door-to-Door Maniac and it really says something about the general misogyny of the time that a star vehicle like this would feature said star murdering a woman in cold blood and shooting another in the face! That said, I did like how Cash conveys getting nuts the same way Keaton does in Batman, grabbing a fire poker and smashing things on a mantle, but definitely could have done without the sexual assault, sorry.

Not sure what anyone behind this was thinking, to be very honest as to my mind it would have been easy to solidify Cash’s outlaw persona with a Western or something, but they opted to have him running through suburbia using a kid as a bullet shield! That he’s sad when the kid appears to have been shot doesn’t do a lot to absolve him, in my humble opinion.

Interestingly, the title card suggests the film was once called Five Minutes to Live, same as its tie-in song, but was renamed Door-to-Door Maniac, evoking those obsolete jobs like milkman and waterman, the latter of which I didn’t know was a thing until I saw it in another old movie last night, but I digress.

In closing, and as much as I have said all that, the film is still very much something of a cult favorite today. Chiefly for it’s inclusion of the aforementioned Johnny Cash as a sociopath thief/killer, one of a mottle who embark on a killing spree in a small U.S. town, ringing doorbells of random homes, then slaughtering whomever answers, of course.

Oh, and Cash’s performance has a neophyte charm, but is delightfully weird and he even manages to sneak his musical talents in a few times, which was unexpected, and yet works seamlessly.

Along next is The Right Hand Of The Devil, which is, for all intents and purposes, an ultra cheap, violent crime gem from the early sixties. Aram Katcher, wrote, starred and directed himself in this B-movie that benefits from Los Angeles location shooting in its first half.

For me, it’s always fun to see what a major city looked like so long ago. The movie itself is fun too, but not always for intended reasons. Katcher seems to be reading cue cards in an early scene where he recruits a cohort for a heist. He’s never really convincing as an actor, but fortunately the movie is more interested in action.

After romancing and taking an older woman for a hilarious beach romp, Katcher assembles his gang of three. They pull off the robbery, but Katcher has a nasty way to pay them off. He also has to deal with the older woman, who was a witness (which doesn’t end well either!) Fleeing to Rio (all shown in stock footage), Katcher lives the high life, until an unexpected associate shows up one day for an absolute WOWZER of a finale!

Somewhat famous for a graphic acid-bath death scene, the violence is crudely done and not a single actor shows any real chops, sure, but the movie was nearly impossible to see for a long time and now that it’s available again here via Film Masters, well, it’s definitely worth a look for those drawn to it.

Special Features:
Feature length commentary for Door-to-Door Maniac by Author/Podcaster Daniel Budnik and Film Historian Rob Kelly
Feature length commentary for Right Hand of the Devil by the Monstery Party Podcast
Visual essay, by Someone’s Favorite Productions