“The Hollywood Strangler Meets the Skid Row Slasher” (1979)
Studio: Cine Paris Films, Ltd
Starring: Pierre Agostino, Carolyn Brandt
Directed by: Ray Dennis Steckler
Rated: R
Running Time: 72 min.
Synopsis: On the streets of Hollywood two serial killers cross paths.
REVIEW
Chris Woods
When always going into watching a Ray Denis Steckler movie you know that you are about to see something really cheesy and possibly something really bad. That is the case with his 1979 film The Hollywood Strangler Meets The Skid Row Slasher, which is both cheesy and bad. The film actually had a cool concept with two serial killers out there and eventually meeting up and battling it out like Freddy vs. Jason. This one did nots follow through with the battle between the two killers nor did it deliver with the whole film.
The film is about a man, who is a photographer and takes jobs with young female models. After they disrobe and he takes a few pictures, he then stranglers them because he believes all women are dirty. Meanwhile, a woman who works at a used bookstore in the bad side of town, kills homeless men while she walks home after work. These two cross paths throughout the film when the strangler keeps visiting the bookstore and is attracted to the woman in the bookstore and notices something different about her. Little does he know that she is just as sick and twisted as he.
Most of the film is just the strangler walking or driving around the streets of Hollywood and strangling models. Other scenes have the skid row slasher working in the bookstore, killing bums in alleys, and going for a jog every morning on the beach. There is not much motive for either of them that they give. The only thing we get from the strangler is that he is comparing his victims to another woman who seemed to be an ex-girlfriend and when he realizes that they are not prefect like her, he kills them. There is never ever any reason why the slasher kills. Maybe she is just sick of the bums walking in her bookstore flirting with her.
As I mentioned before the idea is great to have two killers roaming the streets of Hollywood, but it is just not executed well at all here. Steckler does do a good job with making the film look real sleazy with plenty of porn shops and movie theaters that give it a great grindhouse feel. The music is pretty good as well and captures the mood, but that is all that is good with this film.
The murders themselves are done pretty weak with both killers. There is even a scene where the slasher is about to stab a bum for the first time and there is blood all ready on her knife before stabbing the homeless guy. There are plenty of poor editing spots in the film and the performances from the cast are very poor and look like they are sleepwalking through the film.
An interesting note is that Steckler shot the film with no sound and was also shot for dirt cheap. Steckler wanted a silent film with no dialogue and just sound effects, music, and natural sounds. If he did this in that way the film might have been more interesting, but will never know. The distributor made Steckler add in narration, which is the thoughts of the strangler, which at times seem very comical and sound like it is narration from the crew from MST3K. They do add in a little dialogue for some of the women who get strangled and some of the bums who get killed, but that is it. The rest of the film is all the stranglers’ narration and no words or thoughts are ever heard from the woman who is the skid row slasher.
The DVD is presented by Joe Bob Briggs and has a cool little intro in the beginning. He also does a commentary track, which I still have to check out. That will probably make the film more watchable than it is. I would say if you are a Steckler fan or just a fan of schlock, I would at least check this film out once, but that is it. Maybe just watch it with Joe Bob’s commentary or watch the film with the sound off as Steckler intended.