Der Puppenmörder

First of all, I have to say that my copy of this film is poor in the extreme and so I might not have got 'the full effect'. But even so, Freddie Francis' The Psychopath is a rather mundane thriller that takes most of its influence from superior works such as those of Alfred Hitchcock, and doesn't particularly do anything new. The plot focuses on post-world war 2 revenge, and follows the murder of four men. The men were involved in the murder of a German millionaire, and the only other clue that Inspector Holloway has to go on is the fact that small dolls were found next to each corpse. Are the murders something to do with a doll maker and her son? Freddie Francis made a lot of the best films that Amicus had to offer, and although this is both an Amicus and a Freddie Francis film; it's not a high point for either. The plot has just about enough about it to hold the audience's interest for the film's duration, although it does drag at times and I think I'd have enjoyed this film more if it was a little more streamlined. The dolls are what ties the film to the horror genre, as they're eerie looking and creepy; but otherwise, this is more of a by the numbers thriller with only a couple of twists thrown in. The Psychopath is rather difficult to come by, and since it's not all that good; I wouldn't recommend going out of your way to find a copy.

This is one of Amicus's lesser-known films and not one in their usual omnibus format. But it's an effective, creepy tale in what would be known today as the "serial killer" genre. Patrick Wymark is good as the detective, and director Freddie Francis, a multi-Oscar winning cinematographer, always brings a fine visual sense to his films. According to director Subotsky, the ending was re-edited and overdubbed to change the identity of the murderer (!) although this is not discernible on screen.

Freddie Francis continues to be one of my all-time favorite directors(not to mention his superb work in Cinematography) and here's another fine effort from him for Amicus.

A serial killer seems bent on striking at 4 men involved in a common conspiracy. Each victim is found murdered under bizarre and unusual circumstances and in each case a little doll in the victim's likeness is left at the death scene. One Inspector Holloway(played by the then promising talent Patrick Wymark) investigates and uncovers a whole bunch of unusual connections between nearly every character in the film.

This film is terrific visually and in terms of story(it does display some similarities to Alfred Hitchcock's PSYCHO)--one is always left guessing. Great stuff!

When a series of strange murders is found to contain a miniaturized doll next to the victim, the resulting police investigation leads to a mysterious doll collector and her deranged son that has far more connections than they expected.

Not all that particularly memorable 60s-era slasher, as it's mostly helped along by a clever little twist that adds immensely to the chill-factor of the film by having the dolls' be a likeness of their victim left at the murder scene and they're quite creepy when shown. Several of the stalking scenes are overall above-average and rather thrilling, and the ending revelation is overall one of the better parts of the film, though there's several difficult areas here. The biggest is the slow-pace involved where it tends to focus on the police investigation and their rather laid-back nature that doesn't make for a real exciting time, the series of red herrings doesn't have any real value since they don't impact the investigation at all, and there's a few mishandled scenes that don't really need to be there. Overall, there's a lot to like and not a lot to dislike here.

Today's Rating/PG: Violence.

Inspector Holloway (Patrick Wymark) is in charge of investigating the murder of Reinhardt Klermer (John Harvey), Victor Ledoux (Robert Crewdson), Frank Saville (Alexander Knox) and Martin Roth (Thorley Walters) and his main lead is a doll in each crime scene. He finds that the dolls belonged to the crippled doll collector Mrs. Von Sturm (Margaret Johnston), who lives with her son Mark Von Sturm (Sir John Standing). Further he learns that the victims had investigated and incriminated her husband in the end of World War II. Inspector Holloway proceeds his investigation with a couple of suspects.

"The Psychopath" is a reasonable horror thriller by Amicus. The plot is strange with a creepy resolution. Anyway it is worthwhile watching this little film. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "As Bonecas da Morte" ("The Death Dolls")