(Some Spoilers) Going to do a boring photo shoot of the local Weverville Bank freelance photographer Mike Kovac, Charles Bronson, ends up getting a whole lot more then he ever expected to. While shooting pictures in the bank it's robbed by this mentally deranged killer Killeen, Tom Pittman, who's wearing a crash helmet together with his reluctant accomplice big city mobster Dan Penro, James Chandler. It's when bank president Elmer Danton, Nolan Leary, protests Killeen's actions that he's shot dead by the psycho right in front of some dozen witnesses including Kovac who photographs the entire scene!
Not satisfied in just taking off with the bank's money Killeen decides to take Kovac along with him in order for him, in photographing his bank robbing exploits, to make him world famous as the country's next John Dillinger! Knowing what a dangerous nut Killeen is Kovac has no choice but to go along with him but comes up with an ace he has up his sleeve. It's then that Kovac decides to let his camera do the work in helping the police and state troopers catch Killeen by taking pictures of clues to where his next bank job is going to take place.
You could see right away that Killeen aka "The Crash Helmet Killer" is not all there upstairs probably from having his brains scrambled in a motorcycle crash where he forgot to ware is crash helmet. What puzzled me at first is why a smart hood like Penro would go along with Killeen in his crazy and documented, with Kovac taking photos, crime spree where he as well as Killeen have their photos on the front pages of both the local and national newspapers! That's until it later comes out that Killeen caught Penro at a very vulnerable moment at a New York City bar were smashed with no money to buy himself a drink Killeen treated him! This made Penro feel that he owed him and despite his better judgment tagged along with Killeen on his brainless robbery spree.
**SPOILERS*** It's at Killeen's last stickup job at the out of the way "Lone Pine Lodge" that he got a bit careless in trying to get back with his former girlfriend and collage student Sarah, Mayo Loiseaux, who's Pop runs the place. It was Pop whom Killeen really had it in for in having him break up his relationship with Sarah and humiliating him, the "Great Man" that he is, by making Killeen take out the morning garbage as part of his job while working there. Kovac seeing that all the publicity crazed Killeen wants is to get his photo on the cover of a major national magazine, like Time or Newsweek, then talks him into having his very sick and ridicules wish come true! By dropping his guard and losing it, if he didn't lose it already, and walking or running straight into a police night ambush! With Kovac's flash camera lighting up the scene for the cops to finally gun the crazed killer down!
