Las muñecas de la muerte

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.

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.

I have to admit that my copy of this film is very poor. I bought it on e-bay; and, it looks to have been transferred from VHS (white fuzzy bars on each side; and, very dark; and, it skips all the time.) But, you get what you pay for; and, this one is awful hard to find.

The story is that a London killer is bent on revenging a wartime conspiracy; each victim is found with a little doll in the victim's likeness.

This stylishly done thriller unfolds as the investigators uncover the unlikely connections between the varied characters in the film. I think the plot is quite solid; and, plausible. The story is well acted, as well.

The director has given THE PSYCHOPATH a taught, thrilling atmosphere that keeps you off balance throughout… even when the story drags a bit.

The dolls definitely land this film in the horror genre. When we first meet the doll maker and her son, these innocent dolls already seem eerie and sinister.

And, WOW, watch out at the end!

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!

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")