15 Mindless Action Films You Must See Before You Die
7. Silent Rage (1982)
When an off-his-meds psycho (John Kirby) kills his wife, even a hail of hot lead doesn’t stop him so kindly Dr Ron Silver takes him in and administers a “not perfected yet” new drug that accelerates his healing process and renders him invulnerable to pain. Prick him he doesn’t bleed, poison him he doesn’t die, etc.
Downside: the chemical changes in his body turn him into a mute, wide-eyed Michael Myers-alike who periodically absconds for a midnight rampage, but this isn’t your average early 80s slasher movie. His nemesis is Sheriff Chuck Norris, the only cowboy hat-wearing martial artist on the force.
Kirby’s attacks are, predictably enough, patterned after those in John Carpenter’s Halloween, with a lurking camera and synth score trying to build a sense of menace. Say what you like about Carpenter’s movie but he knew the importance of build-up and favoured slow-burning suspense over a succession of confrontations where the killer gets up after being stabbed, shot, burned, run over and dropped down a well. He left all that to the crummy sequels. And Silent Rage.