The Sex Killer

Some vintage smut peddling from prolific T&A king Barry Mahon. One of many, assembly line productions Mahon made around Times Square in the 1960s. The Sex Killer arguably paved the way for much NYC sleaze to come, be it Headless Eyes, Forced Entry, Sex Wish or Maniac, with this tale of Tony (Bob Meyer) a maladjusted loner who works in a mannequin factory and soon graduates from peeking at girls through binoculars to becoming smitten with a mannequin's head to strangulation and (offscreen) necrophilia. "He balls her after she'd dead...at least she's still warm" quips one of Tony's callous workmates. Mahon's notourous indifference towards filmmaking is all present and correct, so what if dem broads can't act...if the camera jitters wildly during the scene set on a NYC subway train or whether machinery drowns out dialogue at the mannequin factory ...as long as there was film in the camera Mahon didn't seem to care less. If you wanted to get all chin strokery about The Sex Killer, it could be argued that setting the film at a mannequin factory- with Tony's chauvinistic workmates lumbering around the factory floor all day with female torsos -was some kind of commentary on the commercialisation of women's bodies...then again maybe it was just cheap for Mahon to film in there. Mahon was at least savvy enough to realise that the real star of his film was Dirty o'l New York itself, and The Sex Killer doubles as a travelogue of the mean streets that Mahon knew well...on rare occasions he even manages to film them in focus too.

SEX KILLER, THE (1967)

*** (out of four)

After a successful date with a mannequin head, the shy and lonely Tony decides to move towards the real thing. After being rejected by several women, he starts stalking the streets of Manhattan strangling women and then humping them. This early shocker is actually very well made and the acting isn't too bad. There isn't too much dialogue, which is good thing, but there are plenty of naked women and a nice music score. Something Weird Video has been a haven full of weird, sex films like this one but this here is one of the best out there. Running under an hour, the film gets right to the point and keeps the viewer entertained throughout.

Poor Tony (Bob Meyer). A lowly employee in a mannequin factory, he's shy, lonely, and awkward. His co-workers are able to gab about their sexual escapades, but not him. Completely inept around women, Tony resorts to a pretty drastic move. Then something is set off inside him, and he begins to strangle the voluptuous young beauties of Times Square.

This is one of the lesser movies to be found on Something Weird multi-movie sets, to be sure. Undemanding devotees of the sexploitation genre may find some appeal in ogling bare breasts for the better part of one hour, and not care whether there's an actual story or not. The girl watching can only do so much for a tale with no real style, a limited amount of depravity, and characters who are all ciphers.

The truth is that not very much ever happens in "The Sex Killer". Even though this thing runs a mere 56 minutes, there's notable padding, as we see Tony and others go through the motions at work, and as Tony spends ample time leering at topless rooftop sunbathers through his newly purchased binoculars.

"The Sex Killer" doesn't really have anything to distinguish it other than the spectacle of seeing Tony take a mannequin head on a DATE. The acting is actually fairly decent, especially from Meyer, and the persistent rock soundtrack is pretty groovy.

While this viewer commends those folks at Something Weird for unearthing as many trashy obscurities like this as possible, not all of them can be winners.

Five out of 10.

This film is a real snooze, pretty much the empty filler between the more meaty movies on Something Weird's 3-movie DVD set on serial killers. I have seen a few Barry Mahon movies (probably the 'best' of which was "The Beast That Killed Women" and that's not saying much), and the man had no decent casts, no thrilling stories. He had flat-out NO discernible talent. Although his films were well shot, most of them require toothpicks to prop up the IL' eyelids in order to stay awake until the end. Terminally boring, although the film's one redeemable feature is the grimy NYC locations. Buyers of the DVD should just skip this one altogether.

The Sex Killer is a movie so daring and so shocking it dares to make it look like all the women in New York sunbathe topless in heels on top of the buildings. A peeping tom loner who listens to Mr. Happy searches the skyline for love and ekes out a living in a mannequin factory. Ah yes, this boys got issues. From slovenly caressing couches to romantic rendezvous' with bodiless plastic heads. The boy needs some loving and will stop at nothing to get it. The film is mercifully short and the occasional strangulation and bits of flesh keeps the film on track as our boy continually looks for love in all the wrong places. A laughable presentation that is mostly a harmless time passing oddity, you can't fault them they tried.