The Centerfold Girls

A puritanical psycho (Andrew Prine) targets women on the coast of the Los Angeles area who have appeared as centerfold models (Jaime Lyn Bauer, Jennifer Ashley and Tiffany Bolling), as well as anyone who gets in the way.

"The Centerfold Girls" (1974) is a crime thriller in the tradition of "Corruption" (1968) with the first act borrowing from "Psycho." The soon-to-come "The Toolbox Murders" was obviously inspired by it; "Island of Blood" (1982) as well. Needless to say, it was a precursor to the slasher genre and innovatively features the final girl trope.

There are several lovely ladies with quite a bit of top nudity (so stay away if that offends you). While everyone has their favorites, I favor Janet Wood (Linda) and Ruthy Ross (Glory), as far as looks go. Speaking of which, Francine York is a sharp redhead, but her character (Melissa) is such a cold biyatch, it's impossible to warm up to her. Blonde Kitty Carl (Sandi) is worth a mention.

The three-act structure is taken to the extreme with each act introducing a new set of characters linked to the prey, except for the antagonist, of course. The theme is depressing in that there are no noble men in SoCal with every male being motivated by either lust or misogyny. If a guy APPEARS good, it's just a pretense; and his lower nature will soon manifest.

The movie runs about 1 hour, 32 minutes, and was shot in Los Angeles (Aloha Apts. & Topanga Canyon) and Malibu (Paradise Cove & Pacific Coast Highway).

GRADE: B-

This film boasts a large cast of beautiful women in various states of undress. For some that may be plenty of inducement to watch. For others it might help to add that it is also the odessey of a serial killer in their midst, slitting throats where he can and extemporizing on other occasions. His motive, he says, is to help these women who have posed nude, or at least topless, in a Playboy-like men's magazine as centerfold models. At a guess, he believes he is helping them abandon their evil ways, the visions of which must haunt his darkest dreams. Though his motive is never explained, his speech patterns, mannerisms, and expressions plainly bespeak a psychopath. Andrew Prine as Clement Dunne shows us quiet madness and menace in a perfect composite. Everything about him, including his wardrobe (black) and living quarters (white) whispers "absolutely unhinged." The film consists of three separate stories, each featuring a different centerfold girl, but all three are bound together by the presence of Dunne and his scalpel. The third and final story may be the most intense as it concludes with a confrontation in a horrible landscape of burnt hillsides and charred trees, a nightmare background against which the violence unfolds. Dunne's third victim, Vera, (Tiffany Bolling) fights back and nobody skates. A truly fine thriller

This is the sort of film that has you wishing you could time-travel back to the heyday of the drive-ins to catch it in its ideal environment. Scary, tight lipped Andrew Prine plays a murderous psychopath working his way through a bunch of pretty girls, whose only 'sin' is to have modelled for a sexy calendar. Well-shot, well-acted, but it's the doom-laden mood and oddball structure that makes Centerfold Girls stand out - three stories about three girls linked only through their encounters with the killer, sort of like Pulp Fiction without the self-congratulation. Should be sought after by anyone who likes the darker, stranger drive-in fare of the 70s.

A moralistic serial killer with a straight razor is carving up girls who have posed nude for a men's magazine. If this seems like pretty weak motivation for a killing spree, it also makes for a pretty weak plot for a movie. This one is all over the place. The first part focuses on a nurse staying at an isolated motel in the mountains (shades of "Psycho")who is abused both by the sleazy hotel owner and a Mansonesque group of hippies, and this is before she runs into the killer. In the second, and most preposterous, part the killer somehow follows a whole group of nude models and photographers to a deserted island where he kills the whole lot of them. In the third part the killer stalks a stewardess from her swinging singles apartment to northern California where her car breaks down and (after she gets picked up and raped by two sailors)the final showdown takes place.

This movie is VERY sleazy. All the girls are brainless sluts who don't even seem to get too upset about being drugged and gang-raped. Every single guy meanwhile is only interesting in assaulting, molesting, or otherwise taking sexual advantage of said women. Incredibly, the deranged killer is the most well-developed and likable character in the whole film. There are only two reasons to recommend this movie. One is Andrew Prine playing one his memorable psychos (he doesn't so much chew the scenery as just gulp it down whole). The other is the truly jaw-dropping collection of early 70's drive-in actresses on display including Tiffany "The Candy Snatchers" Bolling, Jennifer "Tinotera" Ashley, Connie "Black Sampson" Strickland, Janet "Slumber Party '57" Wood, perennial 70's TV actress Jamie Lynn Bauer, and Penthouse Pet of the Year/mafia moll Aneka De Lorenzo. (The only ones missing here are Candice Rialson and Claudia Jennings). Of course, all of these actresses appear au naturel at some point, and in these pre-silicone days they were, of course, all au naturel. So I guess if you REALLY like Andrew Prine or you REALLY want to see a lot of naturally impressive breasts, this movie might be worth watching--otherwise avoid.

I really enjoyed Arthur Marks' drive-in movie "Bonnie's Kids", so I decided to take a look at the movie he did right after it, "The Centerfold Girls". While I would not label the movie a drive-in classic like "Bonnie's Kids", I have to admit that the movie does deliver a lot of nice sleaze. The women in the movie are always taking off their clothes, and there are a number of sexual situations. The movie does have some additional interest. Andrew Prine does well as the serial killer, coming across as believably deranged and awkward like I think many crazy people are in real life. Also interesting is that the movie isn't one story, but three stories connected by Prine's character. This was a wise choice I think, because I think if any of the stories been feature length there would have been some dull spots. As they are, they all feel at an appropriate length. Well worth a look if you are interested in 1970s sleazy drive-in cinema.