RETHINKING "THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME"

It has long been believed that the 1924 "The Most Dangerous Game" short story and/or 1932 RKO movie were the inspiration for the Zodiac Killer's three July 31st 1969 letters and his 408 cipher, beginning "I like killing people because it is so much fun - it is more fun than killing wild game in the forest because man is the most dangerous animal of all". While this may still be the case, I will present two more contemporary movies about "hunting" that could have had a bigger influence on the Zodiac Killer correspondence. The first movie called "Rampage" (1963), about hunting in the dense forest of Malaysia, had all the ingredients for the design of the Zodiac Killer's July 31st 1969 offerings. The movie, starring Robert Mitchum, Jack Hawkins and Elsa Martinelli, features Harry Stanton (played by Mitchum) who prefers to hunt wild game without killing the animals, leading to conflict with the character Otto Abbot. 

Many Zodiac researchers believe the Zodiac Killer was influenced by the movies, so I wondered whether the Zodiac Killer borrowed the movie title "Rampage" when writing his threats to "kill a dozen people over the weekend", stating "If you do not print this cipher, I will go on a kill rampage Fry night. This will last the whole weekend, I will cruse around killing people who are alone at night untill Sun Night or untill I kill a dozen people". This on its own seems pretty weak, until you consider the crosshairs over the movie title during the opening credits of the movie, and the wording on the movie poster. The Zodiac Killer used the phrase "man is the most dangerous animal of all" in his decoded 408 cipher, while the movie poster carried the wording "The woman who was the most dangerous game of all". One could argue that the Zodiac Killer changed the word "woman" to "man", and changed "the most dangerous game of all" to "the most dangerous animal of all". The movie's opening credits and movie poster contained "rampage", "the most dangerous game of all" and the "crosshairs", which were all used by the Zodiac Killer on July 31st 1969.
The movie "Rampage" was broadcast on US television on July 20th 1969 (Channel 2), 11 days before the July 31st 1969 letters were mailed by the Zodiac Killer - with the movie advertised in the San Francisco Examiner, Sacramento Bee, Oakland Tribune, Berkeley Gazette and Santa Cruz Sentinel, to name just a few.   

The Zodiac Killer would start "hunting" people on December 20th 1968 when he murdered David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen in Benicia - and mentioned this attack in his July 31st 1969 letters, stating "man is the most dangerous animal of all". Two weeks prior to these letters arriving at the San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Examiner and Vallejo Times-Herald, the movie "The 10th Victim" (1965) was playing at the Northside Theatre in Berkeley on July 15th 1969. This movie had appeared many times on US television screens throughout 1969. "The 10th Victim" was based on Robert Sheckley's 1953 short story "Seventh Victim", which was an updated version of the "Most Dangerous Game". The story centered on "The Big Hunt", in which contestants from around the world act as "hunters" and "victims" in two-person battles to the death as a means of avoiding mass warfare. 

​This movie may have featured in the Zodiac Killer's sequel communication on December 20th 1969, the first anniversary of the murders of David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen, which began his "Big Hunt". The movie "The 10th Victim" was released into US cinemas on December 20th 1965. The only time the Zodiac Killer wrote a victim count in tandem with the word victim (victom) was when he mailed the Melvin Belli letter on December 20th 1969, stating he was in danger of losing control and claiming his "tenth victim". We have a movie based on "The Most Dangerous Game" released on December 20th 1965 about hunting victims, followed by the Benicia murders on December 20th 1968, followed by the Melvin Belli letter on December 20th 1969, threatening a ninth and "tenth victim". 

This movie co-starred Ursula Andress, who played Caroline Meredith, a huntress who had just killed her ninth victim and was looking for a tenth. See here for confirmation. The Zodiac Killer made a point of mentioning his ninth and tenth victim in his letter to Melvin Belli.. The co-star of Ursula Andress was Italian actress Elsa Martinelli, who also starred in the movie "Rampage" (1963), two years earlier.

​"The 10th Victim" and "The Big Hunt" spoke of "control", just like the Melvin Belli letter. Early in the movie, the "announcer" laid out the benefits of "The Big Hunt" over the tannoy system, stating "If you would do away with the terrible wars of the masses, become a member of the Big Hunt. Make your murders legal. Only the Big Hunt can give the world a feeling of true security. An enemy a day keeps the doctor away. Why have birth control when you can have death control. Live dangerously, but within the law. If you are suicidal, the Big Hunt has a special place for you". The Zodiac Killer pleaded "The one thing I ask of you is this, please help me. I cannot reach out for help because of this thing in me wont let me. I am finding it extreamly difficult to hold it in check. I am afraid I will loose control again and take my nineth & possibly tenth victom. Please help me I can not remain in control for much longer".

Therefore, we have two movies in 1963 and 1965 about hunting, both more contemporary to the Zodiac murders, carrying the elements of "rampage", "the most dangerous game of all", the "crosshairs", "The 10th Victim", "The Big Hunt and control" and the date of December 20th running through 1965, 1968 and 1969. So was "The Most Dangerous Game" the primary inspiration for the July 31st 1969 letters?