The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Handsome gym teacher living in a beachfront apartment has women trouble: they're drawn to him, but he's suffering from a mental block (blame it on Mommy) and freezes up before sex, leading to an outburst of violence. Tired, cheapjack serial killer sleaze from talented writer-director Curtis Hanson (re-released by Roger Corman a few years later as "The Arousers", with the addition of naked babes) hasn't enough going on in it. Tab Hunter apparently took on the leading role to show off his range (limited to begin with), but if he had hoped this low-grade junk would be his "Boston Strangler" he was mistaken. Hanson doesn't delve into depth of character or even provide much of a background for the killer; his work is that of a rank amateur. Hunter's coach is just a woman-hating psychopath fending off the affections of naked women, all of whom are humiliated by the camera. A depressing experience. * from ****

1950s matinée idol Tab Hunter here gets a juicy role into which he can sink his teeth, and does: he plays Eddie, a Phys. Ed. teacher in Venice, California, who's sad and lonely. He has a real problem when it comes to making love to women, and it stems from a traumatic incident in his childhood (no surprise there). When he accidentally kills one young women, it sets off something inside him, and then he graduates to actually murdering the sexy ladies of Venice.Not that this film, written, co-produced, and directed by budding young talent Curtis Hanson ("L.A. Confidential", "8 Mile"), is really about jacking up a body count. It's more of a character study than anything else, and Hunter proves up to the task of helping us get to know this man with severe psycho sexual issues. The whole film is simply but effectively done, with some solid atmosphere and a bit of gore.There's also a delectable dose of nudity in this thing; when originally released under the title "Sweet Kill", it wasn't too successful; (uncredited) executive producer Roger Corman then went to Hanson and ordered him to "sleaze up" his film a bit with additional sex scenes. Unfortunately, this move didn't help the films' fortunes. Still, it will make many a voyeur quite happy as the female co-stars show the goods.Hunter is well supported by the appealing Latimer, Nadyne Turney as Barbara (the one well meaning woman with whom Eddie tries to make a connection), veteran actress Isabel Jewell as a landlady, a pre-fame Angus Scrimm as her husband, 70s drive-in starlet Roberta Collins as a call girl, and John Aprea of "The Godfather Part II" as Latimers' boyfriend.With a chilling score by Charles Bernstein as accompaniment, this is well done overall and worth a viewing for trash devotees.Eight out of 10.

Careers in the movies on occasion take unexpected routes It is highly unlikely that anyone watching "The Arousers" would have guessed that it's director and writer Curtis Hanson would one day join the ranks of Hollywood's A list. The direction shows little flair, (to be kind), while the screenplay virtually non existent.Tab Hunter, the golden boy of Warner Brothers of the fifties, plunged towards obscurity after leaving the studios who had found a new hopeful in the form of Troy Donahue. They had no belief in his acting ability and solely utilized his legendary looks as bait for the burgeoning and lucrative teen audiences of the time. This, despite the fact that with each movie he seemed to be developing as an actor with definite potential. I recently watched an unremarkable early movie of his "Lafayette Escradille" featuring in a very minor role with hardly any lines at all, a nondescript young actor by the name of Clint Eastwood - unexpected routes indeed.Despite the thin material and weak supporting players (other than one Nadyne Turney), Hunter turns in a remarkably astute performance. In the light of his coming out as a gay man, there is an added poignancy in his playing a character who is impervious to the charms of the numerous sexy females who throw themselves on him. While the reasons for his psychopathic behavior do not stem from latent homosexuality but rather some extremely half baked mention of his mother, perhaps Hanson utilized something of Hunter's sexuality in casting him in this role.There really is no reason to search this one out unless you have some interest in the varied careers of Hanson or Hunter. Others may steer clear.

It's hard to imagine that Curtis Hanson, the man who directed the exceptional films 'L.A. Confidential' and 'The Bedroom Window' could make such an unmemorable film. Too bad, because it had potential to be a real cult classic. Tab Hunter's performance is terrific as the man who is unable to make love to women, so in order to compensate he murders them. Everything is in place for a great movie and the first third of the film is really quite intense.To show everything from Hunter's point of a view is voyeuristic treat at first, and it all seems quite real. Sadly, director Hanson loses sight of this edge early on and uses the same gimmick throughout, making it quite monotonous and ultimately boring. Not only that, but he shows us other unimportant characters just to fill the already short running time (84 min), because there really isn't enough of a movie here.I managed to find this film under it's alias name 'The Arousers.' Despite my negative remarks, the movie is worth a look, if anything to see one of Curtis Hanson's firsts and Tab Hunter's creepy performance. Maybe some viewers will get into it, but I lost it after a half hour.