Psycho-Killer

A good old early eighties slasher film with a distinct giallo flavour to it, Double Exposure does what it sets out to do, but adds a little character to the proceedings too. Adrian Wilde is a photographer who suffers from bad dreams, especially those where he's killing the models who work with him. His brother, a stunt man whose career cost him an arm and a leg (literally), offers support but seems to be increasingly bitter and angry at the world. Wilde meets a girl called Misty, but his dreams and failing grip on reality threaten the relationship, and when the models start turning up dead in real life, Wilde reckons he's got a big problem on his hands.

The giallo side of things rears it's head as it become apparent that the true life killer is a photographer, but in the giallo style, just about every male character wields a camera at some point, from Wilde and his brother, the local barman, the psychiatrist and a gay colleague of Wilde's. Some of the killings seemingly take place in Wilde's dreams, and although the gore level is low the nasty level is quite high, especially when one model has her head forced into a bin bag that contains a snake.

So, is Wilde a nutter or is there some other utter nutter muttering in the background (with a camera shutter covered in butter)? I'll leave that up to you to find out, but I enjoyed this film, although I'm kind of getting fed up watching middle aged men getting it on with the chicks, like.

According the cinematographer R. Michael Stringer called out of the bed to bring help of the director William Byron Hillman that had already shot half movie in anamorphic ratio in bad manner, so Stringer advised him to reshot it entirely, well aside the bad start a lousy screenplay did not help to much the lame offering, worst the leading character Michael Callan overacted as wacko mid-age man often wake up fully wet with sweat after terrible nightmares, also as his closest brother the poker-face James Stacey in bad acting as well.

So what reliefs the audience's suffering, the gorgeous girls casting, Joanna Petet aside a slight older can pass for good enough all remaining girls are really sexy as Pamela Hensey as Sgt. Fountain, the heavenly Bambi portraited by the eye-candy Misty Howe and low and behold the newest Sally Kirland passing by as Boulevard street's easy girl among others beauties, without forget the classy Seymour Cassell the black star Cleavon Little and the iconic tough guy and old acquaintance Robert Tessier.

Thanks for reading.

Resume:

First watch: 2025 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 5.

Greetings And Salutations, and welcome to my review of Double Exposure; before launching into my critique, here's a breakdown of my ratings:

Story - 1.00 Direction - 0.75 Pace - 0.75 Acting - 1.00 Enjoyment - 1.00

TOTAL - 4.5 out of 10

William Byron Hillman is his own worst enemy, and it's his double exposure as a writer and director that damages the movie. He has a good basic idea, which is similar to other films - aren't they always(?) The trouble is the red herrings and misdirection. There's not enough or none at all. That goes for both the story and the directing. I'll be amazed if you've not figured out who the slasher is halfway through. It wouldn't have taken too much to strengthen the whodunnit part of the story as there are four suspects it could be. All Hillman had to do was cast suspicion on them all at different times. Doing this would pull the audience into the film more as they try to figure out who the killer was. But he didn't.

No, he had a different approach. Confuse the audience with the direction. He intersperses the dream sequences in a way you're unsure of the order of the dream and the murder - which came first? Making the film awkward and disjointed is never a good idea. Seldom few directors make this style work. Hillman is not one of the few. The harshness also tars the tempo, adding to the disarray. Apart from this substantial mishap, the rest of the filming is passable. In all truth, the dream sequences are respectable too; it's just their arrangement in the movie.

The cast is the shining light of this picture, which isn't saying too much. Generally, all the actors and actresses deliver decent performances. However, there are a couple of moments when the lead man gets too whacko. His joy is in overkill mode when he fantasises about the pool killing. The grin should have been chilling, but it was over-the-top ludicrous. Then there's the scene where he has a breakdown juncture. Instead of offering insight into the mind of a mentally disturbed man, it comes across more as a comedy moment, which isn't funny.

Double Exposure is a messy below-par Dark Thriller come Chiller that could have risen above averageness. I'd say it's worth a look-see if there's nowt else on the box. But, I wouldn't suggest buying it, let alone hunting it down.

Please feel free to visit my Killer Thriller Chiller list to see where I ranked Double Exposure.

Take Care & Stay Well.

Michael Callan plays a smarmy photographer who seems, nonetheless, to be regarded as a perfect "catch" by any woman that runs across him; could this have anything to do with the fact that he also co-produced the film? He's a "hero" whom it's very difficult to empathize with, so the movie is in trouble right from the start. However, it's troubles don't end there. It has the production values of a TV-movie (check out that head made of clay or something, near the end), and the ending cheats in a way that I can't reveal, in case anyone wants to see the movie (highly unlikely). Let's just say that the killer knows more than we were let to know he knows. (*1/2)

Here's something a little different from Crown International Pictures: a giallo-flavoured slasher with a strong psychological angle and a decidedly nasty edge. DOUBLE EXPOSURE tells the tale of a photographer plagued by nightmares in which he kills a string of young and beautiful women, and a real-life series of killings taking place at the same time. Could he really be the serial killer responsible?

DOUBLE EXPOSURE feels very much like an '80s-era giallo along the lines of A BLADE IN THE DARK or NOTHING UNDERNEATH. It has an unusually vicious edge to it for a Crown International film; it's not that it's particularly gory - and it's certainly nowhere near as gory as your average Italian giallo - it's just that the murders are ruthless and mean-spirited. Being a Crown film, there's ample nudity if you're after that, along with a very low budget that gives a schlocky look to everything that occurs.

The cast give solid rather than unspectacular performances and there are supporting turns for a few familiar faces like Cleavon Little. Michael Callan is pretty good as the weirdo lead, covered in sweat and acting deranged for the most part, although anybody with any experience of this particular genre of films will guess the identity of the killer early on in the proceedings. Nevertheless, DOUBLE EXPOSURE is a breath of fresh air when compared to Crown's typical output (i.e. low budget sex comedies).