Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows FanStore News Showtimes

The Fool Killer

Play trailer Poster for The Fool Killer Released Apr 28, 1965 1h 39m Adventure Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
Tomatometer 1 Reviews 80% Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
After years of abuse from his foster parents, 12-year-old George Mellish (Edward Albert) runs away. Wandering the post--Civil War landscape of Tennessee, George is first taken in by Dirty Jim Jelliman (Henry Hull), a hard-drinking old man who tells him the legend of the "Fool Killer," murderer of the foolish. When George meets disturbed ex-soldier Milo Bogardus (Anthony Perkins), he begins to suspect the nervous young man might be the killer in real life.

Critics Reviews

View All (1) Critics Reviews
Rob Gonsalves Rob's Movie Vault Very slow but seductive and, in its strange way, disturbing. Rated: A Nov 29, 2022 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (5) audience reviews
matthew w A sort of Mexican Cormac McCarthy fest--strong elements of BLOOD MERIDIAN and THE ROAD. Joe Dante introduced it as "Huck Finn meets NIGHT OF THE HUNTER," which is not a bad idea, if perhaps a tad overgenerous. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 11/05/19 Full Review Audience Member A good watch with good camrea work , great acting and a relitivly good plot Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/15/23 Full Review Audience Member A fantastic movie ; not a horror movie ; the touching friendshiop between a young boy and an adult amnesic man. Anthony Perkins shows us a further face of his strange talent ; here ususally smart perkins portrays a tramp. And the young Edward Albert is very good. Strange habits of a certain social class, after the shock of the Civil War used as a background ; very well depicted. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/29/23 Full Review Audience Member Lana Wood, who played a young Alice in The Fool Killer, is scheduled to appear at the 2014 Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention, Sept. 18-20, in Hunt Valley, Md., at the Hunt Valley Wyndham Hotel. Also scheduled to appear are Piper Laurie, Veronica Cartwright, Angela Cartwright, Lee Meredith, George Lazenby, and more. More information is at http://midatlanticnostalgiaconvention.com. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/23/23 Full Review Audience Member I saw "The Fool Killer" on its initial release in Dallas, Tx. I'm Puzzled why this film hasn't produced a cult status. Many less well-made films are available on DVD. This film languishes in VHS only. The film had a mystical quality, excellent acting and dedicated direction by Servando Gonzalez. This was Edward Albert's first film and he handled his role as the runaway boy very well. Anthony Perkins gave an intresting performance as the mysterious vagabond. Hopefully film buffs will discover this film with it's most unusual story-line. I thought the final scene hauntingly beautiful. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/04/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Fool Killer

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Cast & Crew

View All Cast and Crew
View All The Fool Killer photos

The Fool Killer

The Fool Killer (1965) The Fool Killer (1965) The Fool Killer (1965) The Fool Killer (1965) The Fool Killer (1965) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis After years of abuse from his foster parents, 12-year-old George Mellish (Edward Albert) runs away. Wandering the post--Civil War landscape of Tennessee, George is first taken in by Dirty Jim Jelliman (Henry Hull), a hard-drinking old man who tells him the legend of the "Fool Killer," murderer of the foolish. When George meets disturbed ex-soldier Milo Bogardus (Anthony Perkins), he begins to suspect the nervous young man might be the killer in real life.
Director
Servando González
Producer
David Friedkin
Screenwriter
Morton S. Fine, David Friedkin
Distributor
Allied Artists Pictures
Genre
Adventure
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Apr 28, 1965, Original
Runtime
1h 39m