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Rating: 
Summary: A mixed bag of (s)exploitation movies
Review: Another one of SOMETHING WEIRD's new triple feature output, THE ZODIAC KILLER/THE SEX KILLER/ZERO IN AND SCREAM is a mixed bag of exploitation flicks.
THE ZODIAC KILLER is allegedly based on an authentic crime case, a serial killer that stalked the San Francisco Bay area in the late 1960ies. As serial killer flick this 1970 effort is years ahead of its time. That is not to say that THE ZODIAC KILLER is a good movie. Generally it is rewarding viewing for exploitation fans, if you are willing to forgive cheap gore effects and some dragging here and there. The killer's motivation is a bit silly to put it mildly and he is the usual mister-nice-guy-next-door type, always willing to lend a helping hand, inviting the folks at his favorite bar for a drink, etc. He even breeds pet rabbits (!) and takes good care of them, a trait that endeared him to me. Well, he is a nice guy - until his personality's dark side takes over and he embarks on a killing spree...It has to be said that many of the murders are poorly staged. Much more fun than the bloodier parts is a subplot about a weirdo - a vain but ugly, extremely foul-mouthed truckdriver full of barely hidden aggressions. This guy hams it up, but since he is not much of a thespian, he comes across more laughable than menacing. Due to his foul language (every second word is "broad") and his antics he adds a lot of entertainment value, but unfortunately his character does not have too much screen time.
The film gets surreal in places with the usual hapless cops seeking advice from a psychic, it also drags in places, but ends on an effective and satisfying punchline.
Picture quality on this one is is poor with scratches and grain, but given the film's vintage on the whole acceptable.
Far better is the second film THE SEX KILLER, a mid-1960ies b/w sleaze film concerning a young loner with some serious sexual problems. First he buys binoculars to spy on women, then he proceeds to steal a mannequin's head for his pleasure (!) I liked the scene where he stops on his way home for a drink in a bar with his plastic "date" - the embarrassed gazes of the bartender and the patrons are priceless! I bet this was shot with hidden camera. As his sexual madness progresses he strangles and rapes women...
A quick sick sleazefest THE SEX KILLER never outstays his welcome due to a brief running time. The weird proceedings are accompanied by an instrumental music theme, which is repeated over and over again, but fits surprisingly well. I also enjoyed the nice 1960ies New York location footage. Picture quality is also very good with a pristine print.
ZERO IN AND SCREAM's plot (so to speak) concerns a mad sniper stalking love-making couples in the Hollywood Hills area and shooting the men during intercourse. It plays more for titillation than for thrills with the sniper story a mere pretext. The sex scenes are quite graphic, particularly the one in the swimming pool. Nice underwater photography, by the way.
The film ends rather abruptly. I'm reliably informed that the movie is cut by over a minute. Clearly the weakest of the bunch, in both entertainment value and picture quality.
There is not much in the way of extras here, just a gallery of "Sick Sixties Sex Stills With Audio Oddities", which is much fun and runs for about 10 minutes.
There are also 5 trailers, for THE SEX KILLER, ZERO IN AND SCREAM, THE PSYCHO KILLER, AROUSED and HONEYMOON OF TERROR. The last is my favorite of the bunch. This mid-1960ies b/w film is apparently about a couple on honeymoon being terrorized by a crazed redneck in an isolated wooden area. Hope, this one will hit DVD one day!
Rating: 
Summary: Heaven help us
Review: This "Sharpshooter Triple Feature" is one of the best Something Weird releases of 2003, despite the unpromising theme of the disc. Each film is a close-up study of a psychopathic murderer, and perhaps "Pathetic Loser Triple Feature" is a more accurate blanket description. The SEX KILLER doesn't even carry a gun. ZODIAC KILLER is the most professional-looking of the three, yet it defines "cheap exploitation," dealing with a hot topic in a quasi-documentary, mostly melodramatic format. A pair of pathetic losers are introduced and half the film plays a game with the audience - which one is Zodiac, the disgruntled postman or the misogynistic middle-aged truck driver? The real Zodiac, of course, has never been identified, but the film offers its own ideas about the killer's personality and Freudian urges. The picture is washed out and grainy, the soundtrack distorted and variable in quality, actors flub their lines, but ZODIAC KILLER is great fun if you like exploitation. Some arty directorial flourishes work pretty well in this context, depicting Zodiac's warped view of humanity (vile, worthless, malevolent species). The cast of amateurs, portraying diverse "ordinary people" in Zodiac's orbit, is quite convincing, more effective in their parts than a bevy of B-list SAG pros would have been. In sum, ZODIAC KILLER is not a particularly good film, but it is entertaining, and as exploitation it is exemplary. ZERO IN AND SCREAM and SEX KILLER are almost equally bad, two threadbare plots padded with a busload of flesh to reach the coveted 60-minute mark, yet SEX KILLER still falls short by 4 minutes. SEX KILLER is as bad as you'd expect a Barry Mahon psychodrama to be; there's very little dialogue, and most of that is restricted to blunt one-liners telling us the "sex killer" is a weird guy, something we know already. SEX KILLER is most successful in its attempt to create a stifling, hellish atmosphere around its protagonist. New York City's busy streets and grimy corridors should be top-billed in SEX KILLER, along with the creepy department store mannequins who lure this shy, inhibited boy into the depraved nightmare existence of a murderous necrophiliac. It's not a strange compulsion - it's a way of life. An idea is weakly developed throughout, that society is implicated in the killings because people are either indifferent to, or titillated by, these events. A similar notion crops up in ZODIAC KILLER. ZERO IN AND SCREAM is something like the bastard/invert kin of MANTIS IN LACE, and is notable only for its copious and complete nudity, with little else to recommend it. Actually it's more remarkable for its awfulness, as it raises the question of how little development an anecdote requires to become a (barely) full-length feature film. A small but excellent batch of trailers rounds out the program. There's also a gallery of exploitation stills for fans of the genre. Definitely worth a look!
Rating:
Summary: Heaven help us
Review: This "Sharpshooter Triple Feature" is one of the best Something Weird releases of 2003, despite the unpromising theme of the disc. Each film is a close-up study of a psychopathic murderer, and perhaps "Pathetic Loser Triple Feature" is a more accurate blanket description. The SEX KILLER doesn't even carry a gun. ZODIAC KILLER is the most professional-looking of the three, yet it defines "cheap exploitation," dealing with a hot topic in a quasi-documentary, mostly melodramatic format. A pair of pathetic losers are introduced and half the film plays a game with the audience - which one is Zodiac, the disgruntled postman or the misogynistic middle-aged truck driver? The real Zodiac, of course, has never been identified, but the film offers its own ideas about the killer's personality and Freudian urges. The picture is washed out and grainy, the soundtrack distorted and variable in quality, actors flub their lines, but ZODIAC KILLER is great fun if you like exploitation. Some arty directorial flourishes work pretty well in this context, depicting Zodiac's warped view of humanity (vile, worthless, malevolent species). The cast of amateurs, portraying diverse "ordinary people" in Zodiac's orbit, is quite convincing, more effective in their parts than a bevy of B-list SAG pros would have been. In sum, ZODIAC KILLER is not a particularly good film, but it is entertaining, and as exploitation it is exemplary. ZERO IN AND SCREAM and SEX KILLER are almost equally bad, two threadbare plots padded with a busload of flesh to reach the coveted 60-minute mark, yet SEX KILLER still falls short by 4 minutes. SEX KILLER is as bad as you'd expect a Barry Mahon psychodrama to be; there's very little dialogue, and most of that is restricted to blunt one-liners telling us the "sex killer" is a weird guy, something we know already. SEX KILLER is most successful in its attempt to create a stifling, hellish atmosphere around its protagonist. New York City's busy streets and grimy corridors should be top-billed in SEX KILLER, along with the creepy department store mannequins who lure this shy, inhibited boy into the depraved nightmare existence of a murderous necrophiliac. It's not a strange compulsion - it's a way of life. An idea is weakly developed throughout, that society is implicated in the killings because people are either indifferent to, or titillated by, these events. A similar notion crops up in ZODIAC KILLER. ZERO IN AND SCREAM is something like the bastard/invert kin of MANTIS IN LACE, and is notable only for its copious and complete nudity, with little else to recommend it. Actually it's more remarkable for its awfulness, as it raises the question of how little development an anecdote requires to become a (barely) full-length feature film. A small but excellent batch of trailers rounds out the program. There's also a gallery of exploitation stills for fans of the genre. Definitely worth a look!
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