Director: Dennis Donnelly
Year: 1978
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Slasher
Plot:
Following a spate of brutal murders, a young man and his friend set out to find the culprit behind the crimes when his sister is abducted by the maniac and held hostage to prevent her from following in the victims' footsteps.
Review:
On the whole, this was a decidedly disappointing effort that doesn't really have all that much going for it. When this one was right, it's unbelievably effective and grisly, which is what basically amounts to the first few minutes here, which is about as prime exploitative fodder as can be expected at a time like this, as the series of kills in this section is outright brutal and shocking. The chase around the apartment with the drill that cuts up her arms before finally delivering the knockout blow to the back of the head, the shockingly casual scene of another victim being knocked out and carried into a stairwell where she has her head smashed in with a claw hammer, dragged back into her apartment when a friend finds the body, tries to flee but is grabbed, bashed to the floor, and has a screwdriver slowly pushed into her.
That all these murders happen with absolutely no letup is what's unbelievably shocking about these, letting the gore flow freely and easily here through the merciless scenes before getting to the infamous assault on the nude bather, who traps her in the apartment and dispatches her with utterly cruel and deadly nail-gun shots that show truly exploitative full- frontal shots with a relish for the more exploitative aspects of the victims' suffering. The pedestrian-like nature of these kills is such that it really does feel that the psychotic handyman is going about his everyday duties, humming peacefully as he goes, and nothing is out of the ordinary.
Sadly, this is the first half-hour of the film, and from there the film goes so downhill. The drabness that follows slows the film down to such a crawl that barely anything here is worthwhile. The fact that the torture scenes are incredibly tame and result more in his sweet-natured disposition to the situation of having her tied up that the torture actually comes from his rather lame singing and actually holding her hostage while none of whatever else happens to her is all that terrifying.
Likewise, the slasher movie elements end and settle into a police procedural rut with a subplot between the lead detective and her mother, which ultimately goes nowhere as her brother plays amateur sleuth when he agrees to clean the crime scenes, ultimately turning up evidence in the case but is altogether ignored, with most of his findings being dismissed until the finale when it becomes altogether obvious. As well, despite the one murder, it's not really all that nasty, as the action is handled listlessly, being brutal but with zero suspense, so they actually have little real impact. This really could've been something special, but otherwise it's pretty drab overall.
Overview: ***.5/5
A somewhat overblown, exploitative slasher effort, there are some worthwhile elements to this one, which helps to keep this going against a few big flaws that hold this down quite heavily. Those with an appreciation for the subject matter, who are curious about it, or who are fine with its drawbacks will have a lot to like here, while most others out there should heed caution.
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