THE STRANGLER (1964)

  Victor Buono has always been one of my favorite character actors. From WHATEVER HAPPEND TO BABY JANE? to the 60s BATMAN TV series to that Eurotrash movie, THE MAD BUTCHER, where he kills people and turns them into sausages, he never fails to give an entertaining performance. This time he plays the title role of a pretty deranged fellow who enjoys strangling ladies in his spare time and playing with dolls. Supposedly based on/inspired by the case of The Boston Strangler(which was also the original working title) this is a pretty suspenseful trip with some echoes of PSYCHO thrown in, though the ending is a bit lackluster. 

 There was another Boston Strangler movie that came out 4 years after this starring Tony Curtis as the killer.

                                   Known in Italy as THE DOLLS OF DESIRE:

HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER (1986)

  While this movie plays it fast and loose with the actual events in the life of serial killer Henry Lee Lucas' and his demented buddy Otis Toole it still manages to crank out a compelling look into the minds of a couple of white-trash sleazebag psychopaths.  The great Michael Rooker, in what might be his greatest role, delivers a real downer of a performance but don't let that dissuade you from this if you can handle some true-crime with a very liberal interpretation of reality. 

 There was a sequel in 1996 without Rooker starring and I've never heard anyone say much good about it. 

                     Some Joe Coleman artwork really spices up this poster!:

THE BLACK PANTHER (1977)

  Having nothing to do with the Marvel comic book hero of the same name or the American radical 60s pro-black group, this Black Panther is the true story of a black-hooded British serial killer who seems to only become a murderer because he bungles some bank robberies.  While our main character Donald Neilsen comes off as a complete prick who's pretty much a total asshole to everyone around him, including his wife and teenage daughter, you almost feel a little sorry for him since his objective appears to be to just obtain money. The movie kinda/sorta seems to blame his overly militarized mind on his willingness to blast apart anyone who gets in his way with a shotgun. His kidnapping plan becomes the final thing which goes awry and ultimately leads to his capture. The whole thing is an interesting portrayal of a nutjob and also a pretty big downer. 

 Since the film came out only a year after the real-life Neilsen was sentenced to life in prison and only a couple of years after the actual events portrayed it certanl;y pissed off the family of the victims and the police, who are not shown as doing the greatest job in capturing our naughty boy, and was inevitably banned in England up until it reappeared in the video era giving it a certain forbidden allure. 

THE UNDERGROUND BANKER (1994)

  So the message of this category III Hong Kong flick is don't ever borrow money from Triad gangsters. Got it! Starring Anthony Wong, best remembered as the cannibal Bunman from THE UNTOLD STORY. Here he actually plays the victim who turns out to be a hero role(though they do homage his most famous role when he threatens to turn the main villain into a pork bun). Unfortunately it takes his wife getting raped, turned into a prostitute and her and his son burned alive for the revenge portion to kick in. He gets help from his neighbor, recovered serial killer Dr. Lamb(which makes this actually a sorta sequel to another bloody Cat III flick DR. LAMB though he's not played by Simon Yam this time but Lawrence Ng) which leads to some fun knife-fu fights. Not particularly gory but there is quite a bit of violence and nudity on display to make this a memorable entry in this ultra sleazy category. 

                                      DEXTER ain't got nothing on Dr. Lamb!:

JACK THE RIPPER (1976)

  So having Klaus Kinski play the title role here is a big plus, unfortunately director Jess Franco imbues the film with such a leisurely pace that it really drags things down. There are a few gory bits in the uncut version, including poor Lina Romay getting one of her tits cut off and multiple stabbings happen but it's hard to get over the dullness of it all. Also it plays like a mystery but we all already clearly know who the killer is. 

 My favorite-named actor Herbert Fux shows up and Franco reuses the Dr. Orloff name for ol' saucy Jack. 

Cool-sounding Italian title of EROTIC DEEP?:

Spinal Tap tribute!:

THE SECRET LIFE (1993)

 After watching so many documentaries and other bio-dramas about Jeffrey Dahmer it's hard to keep them all straight in my head. I think I had seen this one at least once before but they all kind of blend together after awhile. This might be the most graphic one out there though. You get ol' Dahmer drilling a head to try and make a zombie, sticking a guy(feet first!) into a vat of acid while he's still alive and chopping up his victims with a circular saw among other gruesome scenarios. If you know the Dahmer story this one will have no surprises except for maybe the level of gore shown. It all gets pretty repetitive after a while but hey at least it's better than this version.
 I was shocked to learn that this was actually shot on 35mm film because it looks pretty dreadful and low-budget and I just assumed it was 16mm at best. 

DAHMER (2002)

 There was a whole slew of these serial-killer bio-pics released in the early 2000s. I'm pretty sure all of them were released direct-to-DVD and like most every other horror movie made in that time period they mostly all sucked. This one is no exception. It at least gets many of the facts of Dahmer's life right with a reenactment of his very first killing, mummified heads in boxes, arguments with his dad  and some gay-bar rape shenanigans. At the same time it omits pretty rudimentary stuff like cannibalism and Dahmer's big vat of acid he used to dispose of body parts. For a movie about some pretty gruesome murders there is very little blood or gore in this thing and plays more like some 90s indie drama about a lonely weirdo looking for some gay love. It also has a mostly sappy boring soundtrack that makes me want to take a nap. To be fair I've only viewed the R-rated disc of this movie and there's apparently an unrated version out there which might make things at least a bit juicier if not any more exciting.

 There is what is supposed to be a way better, and way gorier, Dahmer flick called THE SECRET LIFE OF JEFFREY DAHMER (1993) which I unfortunately have never seen but I will have to rectify that soon.   

ANGST (1983)

 I can see where this one is an influence on directors like Gaspar Noe with its artful-style, beautifully shot sequences, haunting soundtrack and grim sledgehammer realities but it's a pretty basic film that is just the account of a home-invasion by a psychopath who slaughters a family.  Based on a real mass murderer from Austria the thing that makes the movie a bit more interesting than your average slasher flick from this time is the voice-over narration that takes us into the head of our leading madman and offers us a glimpse into the insanity. This kinda reminds me of 1980's MANIAC except that one feels way sleazier and exploitation-y and I don't think anyone would mistake that for an art film whereas this one leans more in that direction despite some pervy moments and one particularly bloody stabbing. It's almost like a European version of HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER except that would be released three years after this. An interesting worthwhile one-time watch that I don't think I'll ever feel the need to revisit but this may appeal more to certain folks with more artistic tastes.
 There is an additional prologue sequence on the DVD I have of this which seems really unnecessary and out of place and is the only bit where we are getting narration by someone other than our stab-happy protagonist so skip that if you can. AKA SCHIZOPHRENIA

8213: GACY HOUSE (2010)

Stupid, boring BLAIR WITCH/PARANORMAL ACTIVITY rip-off movie made by Asylum studios about a group of ghost hunters hanging out in John Wayne Gacy's house and Gacy comes back as a big fat clown ghost who likes to knock pictures off the wall and slam doors.  If you like shaky camera crap like those two movies this might be entertaining for you.  Personally I hate pretty much everything in the "running around with a camera" genre besides REC which was at least watchable. This thing is about as pointless as watching one of those GHOST HUNTER tv-shows except way longer.  You do get  some nice naked boobs towards the end due to a Gacy-ghost attack(which really makes no sense since Gacy was into young boys) and a guy gets his pants ripped off which makes for a funny visual.  One of the worst things I've seen in a while.  You would be better off just watching any old Gacy documentary.