Ah... they sure don't make 'em like this any more. This early
80s slasher tells the story of a psychotic killer, Frank Zito (Joe Spinnel), a Ron Jeremy look-alike, who stalks the streets of New York
killing prostitutes and taking their scalps to display on mannequins in his apartment (if you don't know who Ron Jeremy is,
DON'T ASK!).
That is until he meets a beautiful young photographer named Anna (played by former Bond girl Caroline Munroe) with whom he becomes fast friends and quickly develops a relationship with. But this doesn't stop him from going out in-between dates and murdering a few more hapless victims, who he strangles, stabs and garrottes in loving detail. Not to mention blasting the heads off a young couple with a shotgun in one of the films more memorable scenes.
Eventually he turns his murderous attentions towards Anna, who's still non-the-wiser to his extra curricular activities, only to find that not all victims are such easy prey.
Gory, disturbing and damn good fun, this is a fine example of just how good a low budget production can be if done right, and is by far the best movie that William Lustig has done to date. The special effects work is also excellent, but then you would expect no less from horror maestro Tom Savini and SFX wizard Rob Bottin. Jay Chattaway's musical score works wonderfully well and the late Joe Spinell's disturbing portrayal of the killer Frank Zito is also superb.
Initially banned in the UK, before eventually being passed with about a minutes worth of cuts, I would recommend this film wholeheartedly, but if you want to see it fully uncut you'll have to fork out for an import.
