Esquizofrenia

I didn't get around to viewing this early 80's slasher/thriller movie until it was released as part of the "Slasher Classics Collection" and honestly despite some interesting moments, this unfortunately was a bit of a slog to get through. Although the director seemed intent on making more of a straight thriller (with some sleaze thrown in), it lacked in suspense and boring pacing, a prime example of a simple idea poorly executed.

Okay there are a few positives about this movie such as its feels unique and eccentric in its approach which feels rather clumsy especially when it comes to the strange cast of characters such as the male lead Klaus Kinski as the therapist Peter who certainly lives up to his crazy real-life persona and a way too obvious red herring, but his performance is rather engaging. Marianna Hill as the female lead Julie is fine in her rather limited role. But Craig Wasson is a standout as the odd ex-husband and Donna Wilkes really hams things up nicely as the therapist's daughter whose also rather odd with her and the father's rather strange relationship.

The whodunnit aspect is handled rather well with a couple of twists and turns here and there, but in the end the conclusion is rather predictable yet leaves too many questions unanswered. However there are quite a few problems with this movie which could partly be down to the rather low budget, with a really cheap sounding synth score that doesn't build any tension at all. The murders aren't very memorable either and far from makes up for this movie's shortcomings.

Overall only see this if you really need to, but otherwise apart its eccentricity which makes it kind of interesting, there's nothing here that wasn't done better in other far better slasher movies.

Although the plot and rating of "Schizoid" didn't look too promising, I nevertheless really wanted to see it for three (very good) reasons… Number one: I generally like slasher movies from the year 1980 or 1981, because back then this sub-genre wasn't yet impacted by the overload of "Halloween" and "Friday the 13th" clones. Number two: I was really interested to see a horror/thriller that starred both Klaus Kinski (one of my all-time favorite actors) and Christopher Lloyd in the earliest phase of his career (or at least, prior to the successful "Back to the Future" movies). And perhaps the biggest reason for me to track down "Schizoid" is the fact that it features so many typical trademarks of an Italian giallo! The killer, as he/she is briefly introduced during the opening sequences of the film, wears a long black raincoat and black leather gloves while his/her murder weapon is a sharp pair of scissors. These are preferred accessories of giallo-killers and, on top of that, he/she exclusively targets female victims and the murders bathe in a sexist atmosphere. My conclusion is that "Schizoid" is a moderately absorbing thriller with a handful of tense scenes and original touches, but regrettably also a large number of implausible twists. Beautiful Julie works as a columnist for a Californian newspaper, but she's caught in a difficult divorce and participates in the group therapy sessions of the acclaimed psychiatrist Dr. Pieter Fales. Julie starts receiving eerie letters that exist of newspaper clippings and talk of gruesome murders. The female members of her group therapy sessions are being killed off one by one as well. Who is the culprit? Is it the perverted Dr. Fales, who has sexual relations with all his patients? Or is it Dr. Fales' pre-ripe 16-year-old daughter, who hates her father and all the women he has sex with? Is it the mysteriously roaming and voyeuristic janitor Gilbert or Julie's ex-husband Doug who never wanted the divorce? Or perhaps Julie herself is the killer because, after all, the murder cases help increasing her popularity as a columnist! Like other reviewers already righteously pointed out, the biggest default of this film is the credibility of Klaus Kinski's character. As much as I worship this eccentric actor, he simply cannot pass for a psychiatrist; let alone a psychiatrist who manages to seduce and sleep with all his female patients. The search for the killer's identity, on the other hand, results in a couple of exciting sequences and a tense climax. The body count is sadly low for an early 80s slasher (only 3 victims) but the murder sequences are grim and atmospheric. The performances from the ensemble cast are just mediocre, with the exception of Donna Wilkes… She's downright fantastic and amazingly makes her young character Alison simultaneously sensual, creepy and forbidden. Solely based on her performance in this film, I've added the film "Angel" to my must-see list.

Schizoid is fairly up front with you in the first 5 minutes or so: if you like seeing very sleazy movies where a guy in black gloves and a pair of scissors is going after women in not-terribly-clever-but-direct ways, then this is for you. But in place of having a director with some actual visual appeal or attempts at creating a distinct style like some of the Giallo directors (i.e. Argento or Fulci), you get here instead the 'different' side of things with casting: Klaus Kinski. For me, I thought this was the filmmakers going about it somewhat obviously - like, of course he's the killer, right? I mean, look at him! Or it might be Christopher Lloyd, who is the sort of maintenance man who shares an elevator with the main female character after fixing the boiler (so he says) and showing what a handy-man he is by moving the elevator by pressing a button with a screwdriver. Or could it be... someone else??

This is fairly standard stuff - the main woman, Julie of "Dear Julie", is part of some sort of weekly couples (or singles?) therapy group that also includes Lloyd's character, and we see how these murders unfold and how Julie wants to try to entrap the killer, who seems to be sending those word-cut-up type of letters - and yet it's hard not to want to keep watching with Kinski there. This is basic stuff for him, but he takes it seriously enough, and even created some ambiguity with his character. He also gets to play MELODRAMA (in bold type) with his daughter character, who lost a mother years before and blames him for it some reason or another. They have father-daughter squabbles, and those are some of the more entertaining scenes of the movie. For what it's worth, he makes it sort of compelling.

The rest of it is not very remarkable, neither in the kills (again there's little tension since we've seen these before, or at least you have if you've ever seen a horror movie, let along a slasher) nor in what seem to be red herrings going left and right (i.e. Lloyd's character, who gets kind of short-shrifted in the grand scheme of the story). The filmmaker, David Paulsen, didn't do that much else other than this movie and one other, and it's clear he's in it to create the requisite drama necessary to keep the story going, without putting in the work to make the dialog more than groan-indusing. And Craig Wasson, who one would later see in Body Double, is relegated to a role that any actor could play... almost, anyway.

Even the title is kind of disappointing; there's not too much of any kind of 'schizo' side to things, and we're just waiting for the other shoe to drop as far as when the killer may strike next or go after Julie, or when the cops might do *something* with this case. And yet because of people like Kinski and Marianna Hill (who is alright as Julie, just enough to get by), I can't say it's a total failure or mess. It's just... there, with some sleazy 80's horror-synth and a "twist" ending that reeks of hackery.

This played out more like a murder mystery than a horror flick. The box art made it seem like another slasher film. This was another one of those that got lost in the shuffle of cheap fright films during the video boom in the 80's.

Did it deserve to stay lost? No. Did it deserve any accolades? Again, no.

Tha cast was the best part. A lot of names either slumming, (Kiniski, Heard) pre-fame, (Regalbuto) or just getting an easy paycheck (Lloyd, Wasson).

Klaus chews the scenery as only he can. But I couldn't figure him to be a sex symbol. And Donna "Angel" Wilkes did a good job as the emotional daughter. Lloyd played an understated role which showed how good he could really be. Wasson's tendency to overact was the only minus.

The script was terrible however.

And if the cops were wearing long jackets, doesn't that mean it's cold? If so, why were so many of the women wearing shorts? That's typical 80's cheap horror. I get the feeling that if this had been made by Fulci or Bava, it would have been light years better.

Newspaper columnist, Julie (Marianna Hill) begins to receive threatening notes at work. In no time, members of her therapy group start being slaughtered by a black-gloved maniac with a huge pair of scissors.

We're given a rogue's gallery of suspects to choose from almost immediately, including Julie's soon-to-be ex-husband, Doug (Craig Wasson), a sullen handyman named Gilbert (Christopher Lloyd), and Julie's slimy, chain-smoking therapist, Dr. Peter Fales (Klaus Kinski). Oh, and let's not forget about Fales' bitter, messed-up daughter, Alison (Donna Wilkes)! As the perforated bodies stack up, the police are suitably baffled.

Part giallo and part slasher, SCHIZOID shows what can happen when a doctor cavorts with his patients. While not a brilliant effort, this movie does build a modicum of suspense, and the killer's identity isn't overly obvious.

For added fun, count the number of cigarettes Dr. Fales stokes up!...