O Assassino Do Sétimo Andar

There's something curiously fascinating about the obscure and almost entirely forgotten mid-80s slasher entitled "Too Scared to Scream". In the blessed year 1985, director Tony Lo Bianco (primarily an actor and probably best known for his role as Lonely Hearts Murderer Ray Fernandez in "The Honeymoon Killers") seemingly attempted to make a mix of two specific exploitation sub-genres that were at the end of their glory days. I may just be imagining things, of course, but yours truly spotted in "Too Scared to Scream" a tribute to both the Italian Giallo and those typical New York 42nd Street Grindhouse trash flicks. The similarities with the Giallo are mainly to be found in the plotting department, as the film deals with a sadist killer who preferably slaughters lewd women when they are completely undressed and his/her favorite weapon is a giant butcher knife! There also are several (poor) attempts at plot twists, red herrings and even a surprise ending that is far-fetched and downright hilarious. As the icing on the cake, the investigation is led by a grumpy detective almost as misogynist as the culprit self. The link with the 42nd Street Grindhouse cinema obviously lies within the New York filming locations and its portrayal of the city. Very much like in modest classics such as "Maniac", "Ms. 45", "Night of the Juggler" and "The Exterminator", this film is like an anti-tourist campaign for the city of New York! Nothing you see here will ever make you want to go city-tripping in the Big Apple! The cast is full of unlikable people and many scenes play at raunchy, neon-lit districts. The horror action mostly takes place at a wannabe fancy hotel, the Royal Arms, where apparently unrelated residents turn up savagely murdered. The script desperately wants us to believe that the killer is the eccentric night porter / aspiring Broadway actor Vincent Hardwick, but I don't think anyone is gullible enough to believe he's the one. In spite of many flaws and too many boring parts, "Too Scared to Scream" is nonetheless enjoyable if you're a fan of eighties slashers and/or the above-mentioned exploitation sub-genres.

Tony Lo Bianco (more known for his acting, especially in one of my Larry Cohen favorites 'God Told Me too') directs a mechanically snug and customary stark urban-set murder mystery thriller that throws in a dose of gratuitous nudity and psychotic violence that also has it dipping in to the low-brow exploitative market. Nonetheless it still demonstrates a low-budget made-for-television feel (due to Bianco's plain, but enduring style), even though its brimming with a toughly rough grittiness brought across by its seamy backdrop. After being drowned out by a wretch song through the beginning credits (yep it's rather bad!), it actually gets better to cement an conundrum of mystery led by an convincingly collected, but dreary Ian McShane as the detective's chief suspect the doorman of the apartment building where the viciously random murders are occurring.

The problem here is that the material just paints him too obviously as a red herring to be the one, but the twist (and you know its coming) to who is the actual killer had me fooled (and it's an exaggeratedly ill-advised revelation that comes from nowhere and had me thinking of a late 80s slasher effort), as I had someone else in my sights as the culprit. The busy, pictorial layout has numerous character dramas (with even the police getting involved) and suspicious dabbling that can cause the lumpy pace to lull about at times with distracting details that don't really add anything and go on to undermine its attempts of consolidating tension. Not helping either was the constant use of false jumps and lead ups, which more often lead to the real one. It's the cryptic nature of the story along with the soberly first base performances by the likes of Mike Connors, Anne Archer, Leon Iassc Kennedy, John Heard, Val Avery, Carrie Nye and Phyllis Hyman in a colorful cameo that make-up for its wayward spells. However it opens up with lasting suspense in the dying stages, but the deaths for most part appear off-screen and those we do see are theatrically staged with sudden, but clunky force. The musical score is old-fashioned, but over-cooked which makes it hard to switch-off.

Not perfect, but this old-hat, stone-cold premise manages to truly hold you there for it's outrageous, if tatty final.

Great little 80s slacker flick with many nods to Psycho. No cheese so it may get a little dry at times for the standard slasher fanatic, but if you can stand a more serious type of horror, go for it. But make no mistake- this isn't art either.

This TV-ish stalker flick has a few entertaining moments but is mostly marred by boring dialogue and useless scenes that don't mean anything. A gloved killer knocks off the rich and arty residents of a Manhattan skyrise bringing in a couple of detectives who suspect British poetically-charged doorman McShane who's mute, wheelchair bound mother reminds us of 'Psycho' a tad... The okay premise is wasted by misusing the setting and barely touching on the supporting characters resulting in a total lack of sympathy for anyone, and when the killer is finally revealed, it borders on prejudice... A little more imagination would have been nice.

Tony Lo Bianco directs this thriller mystery like a conventional television show, only he loads it with bloody violence and lots of nudity. The result isn't really that bad. The first three-fourths, in point of fact, are very engrossing as we tag along with cops Mike Connors and his "buddy" Anne Archer as they try to unravel the identity of a killer killing in the Royal Arms, a swanky hotel in New York City. The deaths seem to be unrelated, and the ways in which each is killed is horrifying. The prime suspect is the evening doorman Ian McShane. McShane gives a fantastic performance as a dour, reserved, yet mentally unstable man who still lives at home caring for his invalid mother(played by Maureen O'Sullivan). Images of Psycho will resonate as you watch, but the film is in no way a reproduction of that classic film. The film, however, starts to fall apart as the mystery is finally revealed and logic takes a holiday. Agatha Christie could not(and probably would not) have dreamed up an ending like this film has. But despite its illogical conclusion, the acting, direction, and script are tight enough through most of the film to be very entertaining.