The Entity

The Entity Directed by Sidney J. Fury, Starring Barbara Hershey (1982).

This movie from 82 has aged well in the era of the #metoo movement. Think about it, a ghost or demon with the power to sexually assault a female, get away with it and because there’s no traces of anyone, it makes the victim look bat shit crazy! It’s terrifying! I’m obsessed with this allegedly true tale so much that I even bought the novel by Frank De Felita and was captivated by it. It's based on Doris Bither case, which happened in Culver City, Ca, which apparently was never solved. Barbara Hershey delivers one of her most incredible acting performances as protagonist Carla Moran, De Felita's pseudonym for Doris. I even found the book at a thrift store and was thoroughly entranced by the source material.

 Carla (Hershey) is not only repeatedly raped by the spectre, while in the bath or in front of her frightened boyfriend played by Alex Rocco, but in front of her kids as well. This movie is ghastly, eerie and fucked up! The sense of dread and fear never lets up, at least for me. From the perspective of the outside, Hershey’s character seems like a wacko and all of these disturbing events could only exist in her mind at first, but the audience witnesses all these frightening attacks as well and we believe the victim. Later on, the entity reveals itself to others around her, but the most frightening aspect of this film is that no one can stop this nightmare. Right now I see it as an allegory of Republicans destroying every facet of normalcy, it continues on with no signs of stopping and it’s sickening. If this were released in theaters now, I’m convinced that the patriarchy, in the age of Trump would side with the sexual predator ghost as the real victim!

if that's what's going on in 2018, leave me in the 80's.

Carla is on edge and helpless to defend herself from an invisible sexual demonic force. I get this unnerving reaction, the Charles Bernstein score really ramps up the tension. In Poltergeist, you buy the laughable premise that a haunted house is dominating a family’s suburban safe haven and its commitment to their ultimate destruction resonates so much so, that it works. You must buy the premise of both films to work.

the vile Orange vagina reminds me of something presidential.

Carla gets bruises all over her body from the vicious sexual attacks. Stan Winston created the indented breasts that rise and appear as if they’re being squeezed against her will. Ron Silver who plays the doctor doesn’t really believe her and chalks it up to hysteria. He does prescribe her anxiety meds and tells her to take a bath, but how can she feel safe, when that’s exactly where the last encounter occurred.

Gawwwd I just shit my britches!

When the demon visits her, there’s a chugging nightmarish guitar chord or banging on piano keys, it’s unnerving. Carla mentions in one scene that she hooked up with a motorcycle riding juvenile delinquent who was abusive in order to get away from the clutches of her religious father, this ex-boyfriend is possibly the demon that’s haunting her now. The most terrifying scene occurs when her family is right next to her and the ghost zaps her son and breaks his wrist. David Labiosa who played the son, later on had a substantial acting role as the busboy who lost his job in that one Seinfeld episode. One of her daughters is played by Amy Ryan, the girl who has the demonic pig ghost imaginary playmate from the Amityville Horror.

Jambi the Genie from Peewee's Playhouse cameo.

None of the white men, smoking cigars who psycho analyze her believe Carla Moran and they think she’s just an orgasm junkie. Yeah that's right, just like that Buzzcocks song!

Ron Silver’s character equates Carla’s insanity to Medieval creatures driven by the fear of sex instilled through her ridged father’s extreme religious values. It’s all so Freudian and the concept of powerful women seen as conjuring up demons goes seems in league with witch burning films at least to me.

Another aspect that this one shares with the aforementioned Tobe Hooper ghostie is the concept of paranormalists (or ghostbusters) horning in and solving problems or in this case making them far worse. They really exploit her and sadly this movie portrays the main character as the perpetual victim. This group of ghost hunters seem very desperate to find a real case of a haunting. I see this as exploiting the wave of psychic phenomenon that was rampant in the 70s. My fav. scene is where they attempt to lure the ghost into a web of nitroglycerin trap with Carla as the bait, so they can freeze it!

the Intelevision version of the Entity had really cool graphics.

This film really strikes a chord with me, it’s freaky, scary and mind blowing. More people should see it and it should be re-released with extras. Sadly, there's only a barebones DVD and it's not available to stream anywhere.

American Nightmare

American Nightmare Directed By Don McBrearty, Starring Michael Ironside (1981/1983).

Haha, very funny Canada back in 83, how did you know even before Mike Judge that a reality show ape/ hemorrhoid faced clown would surround himself with a cabinet white supremacists, preach intolerance and dismantle the entire political system while everyone was too busy farting around on social media to notice. Actually that's complete bullshit, but you already knew that dear readers, this one is a Canuxploitation slasher that's number one selling point is that is has Alexandra Paul, the babe from Dragnet, Christine and Baywatch topless and acting super stoned and horny. She was also dating the director and this is her first role, but enough about her.

HACK, I swallowed a whole bag of Andy Capp Hot Fries while stoned

A rubber gloved john slices Tanya the hooker's throat, causing her brother to go searching for his prostitute sister. The Great White North just seems to have an over abundance of depraved half naked babes-- remember they shot Ilsa 3: Tigress of Siberia there and this one has all kinds of sleazy chicks. I learned a lot by reading Yum Yum of Houseofself-indulgence's review for this film. This was basically a time capsule of prime Toronto grime, when the streets were clogged with the legions of creeps on the level of "The Deuce" of the early 80s and 90s. Their grindhouse nostalgic domain was Yonge Street and The Zanzibar, which this movie preserves.

Everything about this one, so far, is like a zero budget ShowGirls. One stripper juggles naked in front of a poster for Connie Stevens Scorchy, another dresses like a cowgirl and they all worry about Tanya (Alexandra Paul's character).

obvious inspiration for Pink Floyd's double album A Nice Pair

Everyone is so fucking Canadian, why is it called American and not Canadian Nightmare? There's already a number of films with that catchy title, the most famous one to me being Buddy G's unedited cut of Combat Shock (which I ordered from Chas).

Michael Ironside shows up in basically the same outfit that he wore in Scanners, only its 3 years later. Ironside is never above showing up in trash, he was even in an episode of The Littlest Hobo, an 80's crime solving dog sitcom that was just mentioned on The Best Show as something to cheer us all up after the election. The murders are very similar to Maniac only the killer has no presence at all. The best part about this movie is that it's really sleazy and lots of skanks show off their assets.

One stripper played by Lenore Zann humps a pitchfork and she even carries it around off the clock as a weapon. Before this role Zann was in Visiting Hours, also with Ironside and Happy Birthday To Me. 

Peter Scolari from Bosom Buddies starting at his night job

Lawrence Day, the guy who plays Eric has all the acting style of a mannequin or Keir Dullea and his delving into the seedy underworld is sort of like Hardcore but very inept. There's a really offensive gay character named Dolly (Larry Aubrey) who seems to know everyone and I felt kind of bad when he dies. Aubrey appeared in the My Pet Monster live action video cassette special and The Vindicator, he's got quite a nerdy resume.

for Furries only

Through out the duration of the film, lurking in the background are all these dudes in tacky thrift store suits with buttons that save Uni-Save, which is a plot point that becomes very crucial toward the grand finale. I'm pretty certain it's making a statement that Uni-Cef is corrupt but I could be wrong.

holy shit it's a California Raisin in a Moe Howard wig!

There's graffiti and thought balloons that say Pink Floyd on the walls during some scenes, this movie is really stupid but it's enjoyable in its lameness. For a Giallo, which it's been called, man how did I let that one slip by, it's still very accessible and succeeds in that area. There's even some surprise incest, which really came way out of left field. A lot of times I judge a film by the last 5 minutes, if I'm on the edge of my seat like I was during Lipstick (which I've got to review, it's an amazing film that Skunkape turned me onto a few years ago), then I know it's a must see. It gets really bizarre toward the finish line, I advise you to stick it out and if you're bored and give up, I think you'll regret missing the big climax.

MAX RENN WOULD WANT TO GET THIS ON CIVIC TV PRONTO AND ADD HARDCORE INSERTS.

Deathwish Club (Aka Gretta)

Deathwish Club (Aka Gretta, Carnival of Fools, The Darkside to Love), Starring Meridith Haze, Directed by John Carr. (1983). VHS cover taken from bruceholecheck's site 

So here we go again, in a painstaking effort to review everything associated with the cheesy sleazy jigsaw puzzle that is Night Train To Terror, TOG brings you Death Wish Club aka Gretta! Until Scream Your Head Off surfaces, this will be the last nail in hodgepodge coffin of new wave tards and Bull from Night Court zaniness. This is available as a DVD extra on the Vinegar Syndrome disc and on Fandor.

I've become a Fandor junkie (or a devout Fandorian), ever since Skunkape got in that accident where the porn mob broke his haunches for downloading an unreleased  copy of Frankenpenis 2: The Search For More Lube! Poor ape, everybody send him a Halmark card! Sidenote about Fandor, make sure you visit my pal countfink's page for brilliant and hilarious short reviews of movies you need to check out. Link here.

All I remember from the snippets re-edited into the other movie were the adorable babe who plays Gretta, she looks like Caroline Munro's sexy teenage sister. Also a Lionel Richie looking dude who turns into a puppet and a lesbian who resembled Dave Foley (who may or may not be the protagonist), read on for more info.

This film offers a lot of scummy carnival locations, a hokey voice over, lots of sex clubs and adult book stores.  Glen (Rick Barnes) becomes obsessed with the title character played by Meridith Haze after seeing her in a stag film and quickly tracks her down. The horny way Gretta behaves, with her really crass, lewd and obnoxious mouth seems tailor made for an 80's Dark Bros porn. This movie has no hardcore penetration, just occasional gratuitous beaver shots. 

buy one jar of Elbow Grease get 40 free!

The gay stereotypes that surface are pretty offensive and belong in a Troma flick. The narrator guy starts off by saying psychical love bores me and acts like Little Richard in that he wants to see people have sex while he watches like some kind of cuckold. By the way the VHS cover looks like a fake Robin Williams is aping James Bond or an unreleased Atari game staring Bill Maher as a secret Leisure Suit Larry agent.

I'm trying to recreate that banana porn that's haunted crank all these years

George buys off Gretta at a carnival shoving dollars down her shirt, she seems like a hot-tard and at one point squeaks "I'm a fish" while naked in the tub. She also likes to play the piano in a club without pants, she's pretty goddamn adorable actually. The whole plot line apparently is based on a story by Erskine Caldwell but from what I've dug up, it hardly resembles the source material.

The female title character uses Glen, who's sickly infatuated with her even though she's still loyal to George the narrator. They all hang out at a rundown psychic friends network or "The Death Wish Club". You'd think Charles Bronson would at least take a break from killing punks with poison canolli's or Wildey handguns to make a special guest appearance!

Sowy Chawliey only grade A tuna!

One black dude played by Mark E. Ridley is all decked out in a Prince Purple Rain style get up. I feel like Michael Steele, the chairman of the RNC dressed this way in the 80's. I was really pissed off when this character didn't transform into a puppet as he gets electrocuted like in the re-edited version! When you compare both films however, they just fade out before the latex gore animatronic corpse with chattering teeth, which disintegrates into a headless puddle shows up. They also left the claymation fly out of another scene. I'm confused by why the fuck they even left those great parts out?

Glen I guess is a mortician, they establish that halfway through the movie and just think this one wasn't attacked with scissors and re-edited like Night Train! Everything abruptly shifts gears during the second act. The main bitchy protagonist it turns out is the lesbian Dave Foley! Her knew alter ego is Charlie White wearing a bowl haircut wig, she has the same goth look as man servant Hecubus from that Satanic Horror show with Simon Milligan from The Kids in the Hall.

SEPARATED AT BIRTH? EVIL!

The dialogue in the second half tries to be all film noir (gimme a steak and a bourbon!) and for some reason the male alter ego of Gretta doesn't remember that she's a female. Glen's fucked up plan is to rape her and hopefully she'll recall that she's not a man! I mean that's mind bogglingly offensive but yes it does happen! He even attacks a blonde in bed without realizing it's not his object of lust and of course she's totally fine with it. Stupid Glen goes to all kinds of ridiculous lengths to trigger her memory. What I don't get is why he even wants to turn her back, she was the worst! I guess you could chalk it up to the fact that it was based on a hardboiled pulp novel, I dunno.

AYEAYEYEYEYEYEYEYEE I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY CUT THIS SHEEEEIIIT OUT!

Practically everyone that worked on this film were never seen or heard from again, check milk cartons readers and let us know if you find them. I know this is in bad taste but what the fuck do I know about "good" taste, I think Haze should've gone into porn and at least given 80's adult audiences their hardcore fantasy of seeing Caroline Munro get all kinky, she could've had a nice career, oh well! If you're a total NTTT completist go for it, all others play Pokemon Go and fall off the nearest shark infested pier.

AVAILABLE AS AN EXTRA ON THE NIGHT TRAIN BLU-RAY OR ON FANDOR.  

Kinjite: Forbidden Subjects

Kinjite: Forbidden Subjects Directed By J. Lee Thompson, Starring Charles Bronson (1989). 

This is the only time I can recall where Charles Bronson gets all racist, calling out Asian people in their part of the city where he's the minority in LA's China town! I'd expect this bullshit from Clint Eastwood but not a guy who practically looks Asian!

Chuck does some outlandish crazy shit like sodomizing a pedophile with a giant dildo, who was rudely interrupted while attempting to fuck Nicole Eggert (and that's just right after the credits)! It's not Scott Baio either. Lee J. Thompson is on board, so you know this Cinemax staple is about to get insane! Bronson forces a pimp named Duke played by Juan Fernandez to swallow his Rolex watch whole, sprays him with mustard and finally sics horny inmates on his ass in prison, how humiliating! Don't feel too sorry for Duke though because he is a kiddie prostitute pimp.

Willy Wonka made this watch for you to eat out of Oompa Loompa droppings

The great Sy Richardson is his henchmen, he's always entertaining to me and very out of character in this role, I kept thinking he was gonna pop in his funk tape and go into his Repo Man spiel. During one scene, they hang Sy over a railing Suge Knight style, his shoes slip off and they end up murdering him! Chuck does so many ridiculously illegal things here it's almost surreal. That's the entire point though, most of his films are just a beefed up dumb male fantasy of corruption, where everything can be solved by extreme violence and intimidation.

Fuck! are you crazy crackers from Death Row Records?

Kinjite's plot device also concerns Japanese businessmen assimilating into Western culture by way of a corporate seminar. One oily slime bucket played by James Pax goes too far on the subway with Bronson's daughter and tries to finger her! This is an odd coincidence and it's very weird and kind of gross how the young girls chant about "Partying" and Pax's character thinks that's the molestation signal.

Charles in Charge of that booty!

I think that most of the budget went into hair oil there's a lot of that greasy stuff dripping off of every other character's face or scalp. Whenever there's Japanese dialogue it's annoying how none of it is subtitled (not even on the DVD). Fumiko (Kumiko Hayakawa), the sleazy businessman's daughter, who talks like she's one of the Kids of Widney High, gets abducted and ends up working for Duke and his child prostitute ring. I felt really sorry for her, but you have to hear how oddly lethargic this girl's voice is. Duke puts on a little fashion show and then forces her to serve the public. One female client, who seems like a psychiatrist, talks to her while she sits in a chair, at least she doesn't have sex with them (at least not on screen). This one is overtly offensive and is a first for Bronson who basically plays fanatically Catholic racist dipshit cop who's a part time anal rapist! Go back to playing a disgruntled psychotic vigilante I say.

Mark Corrigan lent me his dildo Kenneth

Peggy Lipton plays his wife, she was in this right before Twin Peaks. Danny Trejo who was on the set of a lot of Cannon Flicks makes a very special appearance toward in the prison scene, look out for him. J. Lee Thompson had some duds in his career (Battle for the Planet of the Apes, aka "let's slap dollar store masks on everyone except Roddy McDowall") then again he also made my favorite most politically charged entry in the series Conquest of the Planet of the Apes and the oddball slasher Happy Birthday To Me. He also directed Murpy's Law which is my least favorite Bronson flick, I'm inclined to blame Kathleen Wilhoite but I do have a slight crush on her. She's super fucking annoying in that movie though! This was his last film so it's possibly Thompson just threw caution to the wind but I'm just baffled at how he convinced Chuck to even hold a giant dildo in the vicinity of a male ass. Oh well, cleanse that bizarre image away with a homoerotic Japanese ad for Mandom cologne.

I'm from the Trump campaign can we count on the abducted child prostitute vote? 

This one is extremely popular with good reason, it's one of the best Bronson flicks among other favorites of mine like 10-Midnight, The Evil That Men Do (which Golan and Globus released separate from Cannon) and Death Wish 3. Oh yeah, one thing I should mention David Axelrod, an actor I know from Tim and Eric shows up as a security guard who almost gets his head knocked off. according to his IMDB, he has voiced a lot of Anime and even had a bit part in Lady Terminator and played a Paul McCartney impersonator on Family Matters. I've neglected to review many Cannon Films for some reason, mainly because I'm trying to cover only Deep Red related shit. More 80's trash will show up eventually--stay tuned.

BUY HERE

The Anti-Christ (or The Tempter)

The Anti-Christ (Blasphemy, The Tempter) Directed By Alberto De Martino, Starring Carla Gravina (1974).

Up jumped the devil right into YouTube and on my TV in fucking HD! Hot Diggitty-Dog! I've been chasing this horned beast for at least 5 years (why didn't you just rent it on Netflix you may ask, because every time I change my plan I get a DVD that's scratched to shit and unplayable or on save forever).
Skunkape didn't even know how much I've pined over seeing this or he might've made fun of me and warned me not to bother with this Exorcist rip off!

Right from the beginning we're plunged head first into a nightmarish baptism of sacrilicious frenzy with snake handlers, people doin' the hokey-pokey and Roman Catholic gyrating, what the fuck is happening? Slow down movie, we've got 2 hrs to go! Behind a gaudy candle lit prison is a pure white Saint with knives sticking out of her chest and Gene Simmons type dragon boots. The dialogue is in Italian but from what I can detect, religious wackos bring their handicapped relatives to be healed by the female saint with "magical" powers, but what they get instead is death and demonic possession. Someone should probably make a sign like "Stay Clear of the evil haunted witch lady who will condemn your soul to hell" or something snazzier to deter tourism.

The first victim is the scrawny Richard O' Brien looking derelict from Torso who is definitely possessed by Satan (or the white bitch saint), he spews up pea soup and hurls himself onto a rock (his super imposed image looks all chroma keyed in). Joe D'Amato actually did the cinematography-- Eccezionale!!

This will be my grand finale of Doin' The Time Warp

Carla Gravina the lead actress is very cute and sports a Rosemary's Baby style Vidal Sassoon hair-do. She plays the paralyzed demonic possessed Ippolita--that name reminds me of Neapolitan ice cream! It's like the film makers are simultaneously ganking the whole devil genre. Oh yeah and guess who plays her father, Mel "I'll appear in almost any Italian genre flick for a buck" Ferrer. I'm glad that Thunderbird puppet-looking smoe is here for some reason. Alida Valli who played the cat-haired German witch in Suspiria and the surgeon's assistant in Eyes without A Face oddly enough is a welcome sight. I gotta mention the actor who plays Ippolita's (Gravina) brother, who looks like a gay version of the Martin short evil man child character Clifford!

Are we going to Dinosaur World or what bitch?

The sets and production design are seriously awe inspiring in their over the top way! Ippolita is having anger and faith issues because her father replaced her recently mother, who was recently killed with another woman too quickly, they were involved in a car accident that made the daughter wheelchair bound. I love that she's in this strange environment where these Catholic priests all believe in therapy and want her to immediately seek para psychological help from a hypnotist, it's very unusual. The Dr. shows up at a party and automatically lies her down and hypnotized her to dredge up regressive memories. There's this reoccurring image of a crushed headless frog (that looks pretty real). The hypnosis reveals that in a past life she was a persecuted witch condemned by The Inquisition. Just like Ghostbusters mentions the underlying theme in The Tempter is "past life experience intruding on present time". This film is overtly Catholic and though it's patterned after The William Peter Blatty text it's a different take on the same subject matter and more about re-incarnation and the ghost of Ipp's former self interrupting her current one. She's also driven by the anger at her father played by Mel Ferrer who at one point has sex while she masturbates herself into another dimension (it's hard to describe, just watch to see what I'm talking about). Even though this and Abby were released the same year, neither of them really infringe on anything seem in The Exorcist that is besides demons, green vomit and gratuitous religious iconography.

Burgle Kutt makes a special guest appearance

This movie hates frogs as Gravina drifts away into a satanic ceremony, a goat headed priest squashes a poor amphibian all over her body, sticks a goat anus in her face and she licks up frog blood. After the nightmare, which also includes her being mounted by the devil priest, she seems much happier. Chas described this part in the catalog as a "Cool orgy in Hell scene with the kissing of many goat butts". There is an actual scene where they show a goat anus, I can't imagine a focus group decided that's what was missing from other Satanic horror films, SHEEEEESSSSHHH!

I'm here for my audition on Goat Butts Beach 86

I think the nightmare gives her literal cougar powers of seduction because right after she mates with a long haired geeky teen she then twists his head off like a Jeffery Combs From Beyond "Ginger Bread Man". Also the Devil makes her able to walk, so obviously everything's cool right? No, not really! At the dinner table she spouts obscenities at everyone and has green foam (that looks like Kale toothpaste) around her mouth. She eats like a ravenous animal, says "cocksucker" a bunch of times in a Mercedes McCambridge voice and can't seem to be able to swallow food (maybe this is the demon's diet plan). The levitation part looks really silly! At one point her disembodied hand strangles this poor guy who tries to evacuate them pesky demons to no avail. She even feeds him her barf and says "Lick It!" (Yuck! Don't you hate when that happens)?

EEEK, Tiny Tim's got a boner!

In the mid 70's, the race to be the first demonic possession movie was on, this came out 1 year after Max Von Sydow Linda Blair brainwarp was released and Abby came out the same year. Why all the hub bub about The Exorcist when you had your choice of head spinning Catholic hysteria films? All of them are jokey where as the William Friedkin one still has an effective grip of fear, I can't explain why but it's the reason I never re-watch it with fond memories, if anything it's a chore because it twists your emotions in a cryptic unpleasant way. Here the levitation part reminds me of the "I Love to Laugh guy from Mary Poppins. Once the Jesuit pro of this film shows up to fix Ippi, it's pretty funny that he resembles hixploitation actor Dub Taylor from Poor Pretty Eddie and Little House on the Prairie. Morricone does the unusually drab and yet pipe organ heavy score. 

It's hard to believe but the director was later responsible for MST3K fodder like Puma Man and Miami Golem. Gianfranco Clerici, the writer of tons of Fulci and Deodato films including Cannibal and Jungle Holocaust, House on the Edge of the Park wrote this. As far as possession films go this one is pretty entertaining and more original than I expected. The ending is a little too fanatical and basically God comes in and saves the day, Oh well, I guess if they went full rip-off it would've been to blatant. Check it out while it's available on Youtube or buy the Anchor Bay DVD.

Yoddo-la-ho-yodoo-la-hee hooo!

BUY HERE

MASSAGE PARLOR MURDERS

MASSAGE PARLOR MURDERS
USA, 1972
DIRECTED BY: Chester Fox, Alex Stevens
Starring: George Spencer, John Moser, Sandra Peabody

Reviewed by Michael Hauss

This film is odd. It is so unbalanced and bizarre that it jolts your sensibilities at times. It has scenes that lead nowhere, it has some good acting performances and some downright awful acting at times, badly framed and edited shots, murky camera work, but, the bottom line is it is a dirty, gritty, sleazy, funky, fun romp.

The story revolves around murders that are being committed at some New York City massage parlors, and the detectives who are trying to solve the crimes. The detectives are intertwined in the murders because they have relations, both sexually and relationship wise with two girls who worked at the massage parlors. The only women who are depicted in this film are either massage parlor workers, or the wife of Detective Rizotti who is portrayed as a cold fish and is constantly firing a barrage of bitchiness at the frustrated angry Rizotti.

Detective Rizotti is played by George Spencer ( GOMER PYLE: USMC, 1964-1969), who plays the seasoned bad cop along with his partner Detective O' Mara, who is the young inspired, good cop, played by John Moser. Detective Rizotti has a regular girl at the massage parlor and she happens to be the first girl killed who is named Rosie (Chris Jordan). Detective O' Mara goes to talk to Rosie' s roommate Gwen, whom O'Mara eventually becomes romantically involved with. Gwen is asked by O' Mara about anybody that might be a suspect and she tells him of a guy that Rosie used to call Mr. Creepy (George Dzundra), who used to leave Rosie black and blue after his massage sessions. The detectives find out where this Mr. Creepy lives and see him exit his building, they follow and eventually after a short foot chase, catch him, administer a little police brutality and tell him not to show his face around town again. George Dzundra is a prolific character actor who is also credited with being the assistant director on MASSAGE PARLOR MURDERS, his credits include DEER HUNTER (USA, 1978) and SALEM' S LOT (USA, 1979) among many others.

I suggest you try the sloppy hot salami with cigarette butts 

The murders continue and are always brutally depicted on screen, the killer is described as just an average guy, average build, average everything, the killer is given the pov treatment when he enters some of the massage parlors and chooses a girl and pays the always sleazy looking desk attendants. So as Rizotti does the violent slow burn and O' Mara and Gwen get to shagging, the killings continue. Gwen who works at the Lust Lounge massage parlor does not ball her clients there, she tells O' Mara and acts more like a shrink to these poor fellows.

There are scenes that are basically filler including an opening with a massage parlor client named Irving who is actually director Chester Fox in an uncredited role, deciding that the massage parlor was not for him, comical yes, a plot movement scene, not at all, but the cowboy wallpaper was a nice touch. Another filler scene is of detective O'Mara and Gwen at a nude indoor pool party shagging until a pervert tries to jump a woman's bones and runs from the pool with O' Mara only in a towel in hot pursuit. After a well staged and exciting car chase the scene ends with O' Mara letting the suspect go and then dies an anticlimactic death.

The film boasts good performances from Spencer, Moser and Sandra Peabody who plays Gwen, the ravishing Peabody is best known for her role of Mari Collingwood in the film LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT (USA, 1972).

I can't believe I was raped, murdered, my parents killed Krug & his cronies and I never got to see Blood Sausage!

The film also includes a scene of the insane Brother Theodore ( NOCTURNA, USA, 1979, THE BURBS, USA, 1989) who absolutely rambles some inane shit to the detectives, who have visited him because a medallion that two of the slain girls were wearing had been purchased from him. Brother Theodore is a horoscope reader who is fucking stupid and offensive towards the cops, he gets punched in the gut by frustrated detective Rizotti, a well deserving punch, I might add.

I was also in GUMS but anyone who saw that film went blind from the hideous sex inserts

This film also has many scenes with voice overs, as if some scenes were possibly done illegally or non union, or the budget was not there for the onsite sound recording. The detectives are at a loss for a suspect until detective Rizotti is dragged to church by his wife and the priest is preaching about the 7 deadly sins. The light goes on in the main protagonist's brain and he springs from the church pew and yells out " the guys a religious nut." Rizotti races to pick up Detective O' Mara and they go to a book store and look up the 7 deadly sins and start to put two and two together. The killer is slaying the girls of the massage parlors because their place of employment had a correlation with a deadly sin, Mad Hatter for anger, the Everybody's Envy massage parlor for envy, and the Lust lounge for lust. The cops race to the Lust lounge where Gwen works, only to find her dead, O' Mara is devastated but has precious little time to grieve as the killer is striking again. The movie ends right back at where it began, this time though without Irving, the massage parlor girl who he refused services from is being attacked by the killer whose face wasn't shown during the film until now, she fights back and stop...No spoilers here...buy the fantastic disc from Vinegar Syndrome and find out how it ends.

New scenes were obviously shot after the initial filming had concluded, like the nude swimming pool scene and edited in by director Stevens, other later on inserted scenes show John Moser sporting a bit longer hair style. Rosie the first massage parlor girl murdered is played by the petite, perky Chris Jordan, who appeared in a number of adult films including CONFESSIONS OF A YOUNG AMERICAN HOUSEWIFE (USA, 1974), DEEP THROAT 2 (USA, 1974) and TEENAGE HITCHHIKERS (USA, 1975).

I wonder what Al Goldstein says about my horoscope?

The score was well done and had an interesting assortment of music to accompany various scenes, over blown rock n roll at times, lounge music at other times, but a nice mix all in all. The murder set pieces were graphic in nature and a bit psychedelic in scope. Some scenes are surreal at best, the one with four massage parlor girls speaking about their boyfriend's sexual hang ups are so badly acted and give you the impression they were shot on acid, it just defies description. Two of the dead girls blink which adds a bit more to the odd mix. A scene is also thrown in at a peep show of a man and a woman that I will not spoil, it made me say "what the fuck was that" to myself.

Shit! I spilled nail polish on my forehead again

The director's Chester Fox and Alex Stevens only have this co-directing credit on their resumes, though Stevens was a stunt coordinator on many films including HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS (USA, 1970), SHAFT' S BIG SCORE (USA, 1972) and SCANNERS (Canada, 1981).
The Vinegar Syndrome disc is a beauty, there are some technical issues but the film is a product of its time, cheaply filmed and edited. There is at times an audible hiss but any technical issues can be over looked just to have this sleazy film in your greasy little palms. I can't recommend this film enough as a testament to 70's exploitation film making, and a time capsule of New York City and especially Times Square from the early 1970's. The film was also released under the title MASSAGE PARLOR HOOKERS. The liner notes by Chris Poggiali are very informative, detailing the film and its participants. The Vinegar Syndrome release boast two versions of the film which include the original and the rereleased film under the title MASSAGE PARLOR MURDERS.

Vinegar Syndrome- 2 disc set. Blu Ray and DVD
Features Include:
+ Blu-Ray/DVD Combo Pack | Region Free | 1.85:1 AR | MONO
+ Restored in 2K from original camera negative
+ Original theatrical trailer + alternate MASSAGE PARLOR HOOKERS trailer
+ Rare outtakes
+ Special edition lab card
+ Extensive historical liner notes

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