Le tueur de Boston

... even though the who of this crime drama is always known. It's the what - as in what will he do next? - that kept me engaged.

Allied Artists, under the direction of Walter Mirisch in the 50s, had tried to put out some quality productions. But at the end of the 50s Allied decided it wanted to go back to cheap schlock, with the budget sci fi film cycle being in full swing at the time. This is a rare example of a film after Mirisch's departure that showed quite a bit of quality.

An overweight 30ish lab technician, Leo Kroll (Victor Buono), has been going about strangling women who are strangers to him, other than maybe seeing them in the hall at the hospital he works at or some other place out and about. Leo always uses a stocking to kill the women, always positions their bodies like they are being laid out for a funeral, always closes their eyes. Then he goes home and undresses a doll that corresponds to the latest victim and puts that doll in a desk drawer. He gets some sexual charge out of this activity. Enough is shown about Leo's life that you know he has no friends, no girlfriend, and lives alone except for his mother who has spent her life belittling him and emotionally strangling him.

The police are hitting dead ends in this case that is becoming higher and higher in profile. They have no leads because there is nothing linking the victims to one another or to one particular person. In 1964, such motiveless crimes are still uncommon. And then Leo makes a mistake. He strangles a victim where his motive is personal, and thus the crime scene looks like none of the others. He doesn't know the victim, but now the police have reason to suspect him and note that he told a lie - albeit a minor one - in a past interview where he was one of many interviewed about one of the victims. Complications ensue.

This was a really good performance by Buono, and for that matter, the rest of the largely no name cast. Ellen Corby was good as the mother who drove Leo to insanity with her pettiness, nagging, and criticism. It's a rare instance of her not being the pleasant older lady. Buono was in many ways like Steve Buscemi. Both were rather "funny looking guys" to quote Fargo, yet they excelled at their craft. Given how look-centric Hollywood is though, I have to wonder why they thought they'd have a shot in this profession.

While this is not by any stretch of the imagination a good film, because of the slow pacing, the inane police sequences, and the thuddinmg obviousness of much of it. It still has it's imaginative stretc hes. For example, showing that the killer has an orgasm every time he kills is unusual and quitye ahead of the time. Several of the strangling scenes where suspensilly paced, but weakened by how quickly the victim usually died (it only takes him about 10 seconds to strangle each woman with a silk stocking!) and also weakened by having every woman changer into her underwear before she gets killed. Basically much of this is saved by Victor Buono's performance which is not his best, is still quite menacing and one of the more realistic serial killers on film. His exaggerated false smiles of respectability brought to mind similiar ones I had seen on the faces of John Wayne Gacy. And the scene where he trashes the apart ment the hole time his mouth workingh inadvertenly was magnificent.

Oddball, but enjoyable low-budget horror film features Victor Bruno as an overweight, insecure lab technician with an overbearing mother, which somehow drives him to become a serial killer, strangling nurses at the hospital where he works. "The Strangler" capitalized on Bruno's Oscar nominated performance in "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?" and although this clearly a lesser film, it does have a low rent William Castle type of charm. Bruno carries the film, giving a creepy performance as an unassuming killer along the lines of David Berkowitz or John Wayne Gacy, far removed from the usual more flamboyant of serial killers presented on films (i.e. Hannibal Lecter, Patrick Bateman in "American Psycho," Harry Powell in "Night of the Hunter", etc.). Overall, it's not a classic and is not for all tastes, but if you're in the mood for something along the lines of "Strait-Jacket" or "Homicidal," you'd probably enjoy this low budget chiller.

This film was a pleasant surprise. I bought this on DVD with another film on same DVD because I liked the description, at a very fine price. I was not disappointed. Victor Buono of Batmans King Tut fame and Ellen Corby of Waltons fame were excellent as son and overbearing crippled mother. The scenes where Ellen Corby verbally abuses her son were as important to the film as the actual murders taking place. It truly does give the viewer somewhat of a sense as to why the killer turned out the way he did. I thought the police investigation and interrogation scenes were wonderful as well and truly stood the test of time to modern day film experiments such as Law and Order or CSI . The writers of this movie really did their homework to bring out an exceptional film in all facets, covering all bases. The film is timeless for the most part, except for smoking in the hospital. I thought that was strange lol. I surely recommend this film with an eerie soundtrack though very simple stage set. Victor Buono very underrated actor, probably because of his girth. Enjoy this film ASAP.

Was very intrigued by the story for 'The Strangler', being a fan of murder/mystery/psychological films this was the sort of story that would have appealed to me straightaway, and have liked Victor Buono in other things. The racy content that 'The Strangler' has been referred to as having was another interest point.

'The Strangler' turned out to be a nicely done, entertaining and intriguing film that does much more right than it does wrong. Not great or a masterpiece but well above average and worth a watch, would say too that it deserves more attention than it gets. It is very rarely seen now and it deserves better than that.

It does lack finesse visually, with it looking like it was made hastily. Occasionally the pace creaks in spots.

Other than Victor Buono and Ellen Corby, the rest of the cast don't really stand out, not because they're awful but their characters are nowhere near as interesting. Would have liked a slightly clearer motivation for what drove Kroll to target nurses perhaps and why he chose the methods.

Buono however is the main reason to see 'The Strangler'. He clearly has a ball here and while he is often chilling Buono succeeds in making Kroll more than that and gives him a sympathetic edge. Corby is suitably beastly as the dominating mother figure. The direction is more than capable and much of the script is taut and thought-provoking. The music is haunting without being intrusive.

From start to finish, the story is compelling with lots of suspense, especially in the build ups to the killings, and it is hard to not admire the film's raciness in its unconventionally (at the time) brutal tone, that provides some genuine unsettlement, and the ahead of its time content. The pace is mostly both controlled and tight and the investigative/procedural approaches are fascinating.

On the whole, well done. 7/10 Bethany Cox