Director: Christina Hornisher
Year: 1973
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: The Hollywood Hillside Strangler; Insanity; Twisted Throats
Genre: Psychological
Plot:
Trying to get his career started, a photographer hoping to leave the porn world he shoots for a chance at legitimate work is confronted with a chance to change that when he finds a new potential girlfriend, but when it dawns on him that nothing is different tries to change everything.
Review:
This was a decent enough if somewhat flawed genre effort. Among the best attributes featured here is the strong setup that focuses on the gradual descent into insanity that triggers the rampage. While it may seem somewhat standard and formulaic in a more modern lens with the whole thing coming off as incredibly familiar with how it takes place, this one brings about the idea of the loner trying to make ends meet in a job he doesn’t care about that slowly begins to take a toll on him psychologically. Embarrassed and put off by his work in the adult industry, his attempts at trying to advance beyond that are stymied when the work he wants isn’t available to him due to his past which keeps him firmly entrenched in that universe. The extracurricular favors that go in and help enhance this feeling, from the backstory about his childhood growing up in a female-dominant family, the lack of affection from women in the industry, and the inability to connect with anyone all prove equally adept at getting the mindset across about who he is.
While his motivation and background are established and somewhat understood, this part of the film is where things stumble quite a bit. The idea of this one leading to a frenetic finale that justifies his rampage is a fine touch. Yet, there’s a rather tough time getting there with the whole thing interrupted by a maddeningly uninteresting storyline about the guy trying to find a partner with the model from the photoshoots but unable to come to terms sexually with her. With this all taking place as dates where they drive around the city, engage in endless monologues about their futures together, or visit random places in the city, it’s interminably overlong until something happens to set him off on his final spree. This carries some nice weight to it in terms of how he manages to build to that potential mindset but it takes so long to get there all interest or care in the subject is missing even though this setup manages to provide one of the more striking and original finales here. It’s the main thing that holds this one down.
Overview: **.5/5
An intriguing enough psychological slow-burn that might be light on horror, there’s enough to like with this one to keep it going while being somewhat let down by its lacking genre material. Those who are fine with this style of presentation, are curious about this kind of film, or enjoy this era will have the most to like while most others out there should heed caution.
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