The Mad Bomber is another new-to-me piece of L.A. cinema history thanks to Severin Films’ release. It’s fun seeing L.A. in the ’70s, especially Century City which is missing a lot of the current buildings.
It’s an interesting plot too. A rapist witnessed the bomber, so the police are trying to catch the rapist as a witness so he can help them find the bomber. The execution of it is exploitation, but those practical explosions must have been something.
The commentary track with a bomb squad expert is fascinating. He debunks most action movies and shares some scary real-world history.
Bert. I Gordon’s audio interview runs almost 80 minutes, most of the length of the movie, and of course covers his whole career, not just The Mad Bomber. His daughter shares memories of being on set as a schoolgirl, giving a sense of what it’s like to be a filmmaker’s kid in her audio interview. They found Cynthia McAdams now and compared many of the locations then and now too.