Zodiac Rapist (also titled Zodiac Killer) is a 1971 pornographic horror film starring John Holmes (actor). It is loosely inspired by the crimes attributed to the Zodiac Killer of California.
Plot
The film follows a serial offender dubbed by the press as “the Zodiac Rapist” and a Detective Sam Dobbs (played by Buddy Boone) who is mocked in the newspapers for failing to catch him. The offender taunts Dobbs with letters and phone calls — a nod to the real Zodiac case — and the loose narrative threads together a series of explicit scenes. In the closing voice-over, the offender is arrested and sentenced to death by hanging, with the sentence ironically dropped on the grounds that he was “quite hung enough” already.
Cast (selected)
- Buddy Boone as Detective Sam Dobbs
- John Holmes (actor) as The Zodiac Rapist
- Andy Bellamy as Policewoman
- Sandy Dempsey as Secretary with Apple
- John Dullaghan as Voiceovers
Release
The film was released on DVD by After Hours Cinema in 2008 as a double feature paired with Sam Dobbs and the Guru Gangbang.
Reception
Reviews were mixed. Ian Jane of DVD Talk gave a positive review, describing the film as “a lot of goofy fun” and “an easy recommendation to fans of seventies smut.” Tom Becker of DVD Verdict found it clever but ultimately not very interesting, while allowing that fans of “old-school smut” or John Holmes completists might value the set.
The film is a fictionalized exploitation work and bears no documented connection to the actual events or perpetrator of the Zodiac case.