10 Scariest Scenes In "True Story" Films
7. Dirty Harry's Scorpio Was Just As Bad As His Hunter
San Francisco's 1970s scene was one of the most progressive, as as a result, tumultuous in the country. A haven for refugees of the hippie movement post-Altamont, it served as the perfect staging ground for the LGBTQ movement. At the same time, however, it was also plagued by serial killers, leftist kidnappers and conservatives unwilling to get with the times.
Enter Dirty Harry, Don Siegel's fascistic answer to the Zodiac killer. The film's Scorpio is directly lifted from the headlines, albeit given a financial incentive for his psychosis, and Any Robinson is unnervingly terrifying in a career-defining turning. Alternately calculating and laughing maniacally, he's the perfect counterpart to Harry Callahan's shoot first cop: A killer who really doesn't deserve a trial.
That didn't prevent critics from taking notice that Harry's police work was...alarming, to say the least. In this era where we are considering repurposing the funds and responsibilities aimed toward cops, it's easy to see Harry being more of a problem then a solution; hiring officers who get some sexual release out of torturing their arrestees.
Still, Robinson is a formidable opponent, no more so than during a money exchange, laughing like a loon as he beats our protagonist senseless.
It would only be later that Harry would face counterculture in significantly oppressive ways, especially considering one of the films was shot while Mayor George Moscone and Councilman Harvey Milk held office.