NIGHT OF THE STRANGLER (1972)

   With a title like NIGHT OF THE STRANGLER you might think there would be some strangling going on here but you would be sadly mistaken. The closest we get is a drowning in a bathtub but besides that there are a bunch of other ways our mysterious killer offs his victims, non of which is by strangulation. To add insult to injury not much of this movie takes place at night either!

  I've seen this movie referred to as blaxploitation which is another untruth. There are a couple of black characters and racism does play a big role in the proceedings but the soundtrack is not quite funky enough to qualify as a proper 70s blaxploitation flick. Ex and future member of The Monkees, Micky Dolenz does a decent job in this non-comedic role and while the novelty of seeing him in an exploitation movie like this might make it worth a watch for some people there's not much more to recommend this one for. AKA DIRTY DAN'S WOMEN and IS THE FATHER BLACK ENOUGH? Re-released as THE ACE OF SPADES.

 Not to be confused with the Kolchak TV-movie THE NIGHT STRANGLER which does actually feature some strangling victims. 

ANGEL (1984)

  This is a sentimental favorite from back in the VHS rental days. I think the thing I like most about it is that it mixes a few different genres together slasher movie/revenge flick/teen drama and it wallows in a great 80s Los Angeles sleazy environment. In addition to this all the characters here are bonkers. Comedian Dick Shawn in drag as Angel's fairy godmother, the always wacky Susan Tyrell as his mate/insult-trading partner, Rory Calhoun as a lost-in-time cowboy and a killer(John Diehl) who is a literal egg-sucking hooker-killing nutjob. Our main character played by Donna Wilkes is supposed to be a 15-year old prostitute but clearly is not and that's probably a good thing. 

 There were 3 sequels to this. I've only see 2 of them and just found out about the 4th one where our Angel has become a blond. Sadly Wilkes never returned to the series and Angel is played by a different actress in each subsequent movie. 

SANTO VS. THE KING OF CRIME (1962)

  I generally love Santo movies and while I don't hate this early one it's probably down there around the bottom on my list of favorites. The main problem with this is the long drawn-out Jai Alai matches that serve to pad the film out. I know these movies always have long wrasslin' matches thrown in, this one has a couple of those also, but they really focus on the Jai Alai more in this entry. It's also kind of a weird origin story of Santo being a role, and a mask, that a father hands down to his son. There is a very fat criminal kingpin with a humpbacked midget helper so it's not a total loss but I think if I'm looking to re-watch a Santo flick I'll stick with his 70s monster mashes. 

               Santo using the immense power of Jai Alai!: 

THE MAJORETTES (1986)

  Directed by the guy who played the first zombie in NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD(Bill Hinzman), written by the guy who co-wrote NOTLD(John Russo) and featuring appearances by those 2 guys and the guy who played Johnny in NOTLD(Russell Streiner) this is clearly a Pittsburgh production. With all that local star power it's kind of a letdown that this is not better. You get a pretty basic slasher movie about cheerleaders getting offed and some religious overtones thrown in for motivation. Has a decent amount of blood, nudity and even a couple of explosions when it turns into an action movie for a bit. Might keep you entertained if you've seen all the big slasher flicks already.