Violences dans la nuit

Psychomania is a neat little slasher flick that has been unfairly maligned by its relationship to the creators of the genuinely dreadful (though entertaining) Horror of Party Beach. The film is shot in stark black and white, with a look that sometimes anticipates Night of the Living Dead and a trench-coated, gloved killer that pre-dates the giallo genre (Bava's Blood and Black Lace was a year away). The cast is also fun to watch, with James Farentino, Dick Van Patten, and Sylvia Miles soldiering away in the early years of their careers. Director Hilliard tries to include as many Psycho style camera shots as possible with quick edits and brief glimpses of blood, and there's even a Hitchcockian scream segueing into train noise! Tenney went on to produce another underappreciated film, Curse of the Living Corpse, the following year.

First of all, this is NOT a "horror" movie. It's a pretty straightforward drama about a killer and the various suspects.

It's a very watchable movie, especially since there is an odd abundance of nudity without this being one of those 60's nudity cuties movies.

It also has some soon to be more famous people. Dick Van Patten, James Farentino, and a young Sylvia Miles who went on to make some mainstream flicks and later, an Andy Warhol movie. I saw her on the street of Manhattan years ago and struck up a conversation. She was real kookie.

So the flick is very watchable, if shmaltzy. It's a better than average low budget movie in this type of genre.

A film probably better known by its alternate, later title of "Psychomania," "Violent Midnight" (1963) proved a very pleasant surprise for me indeed. The film centers around Elliott Freeman, a young, reclusive painter who won't be a free man much longer if the local police have their way. One of Freeman's pretty young models has just been found knifed to death (the picture's debt to Hitchcock's "Psycho" is fairly evident during her suggested, shadowy slaying), and before long, one of his sister's co-ed friends follows suit.... An independent production more than ably helmed by Del Tenney, this film offers any number of unexpected treats. It features beautiful and artfully composed B&W photography; nice visuals of the Stamford, CT countryside; an intriguing, jazzy score; some surprising and titillating near nudity by a good number of comely lasses; and interesting performances by its largely no-name cast. The only performers I was at all familiar with here were Silvia (sic) Miles as a blond bar floozy; TV favorite Dick van Patten as a hard-boiled cop (!); and, in his first film role, James Farentino as a randy thug who can't seem to help getting in trouble. The actress Lorraine Rogers is also very fine as a blond, aggressively lustful student. The picture concludes quite suspensefully, with the knife-wielding killer stalking a very pretty gal during a thunderstorm. The killer's identity comes waaaaaay out of left field, I must say; don't even try to guess, unless you're infinitely better at these things than I am! This film also features one of the most deliciously morbid folksingers you'll ever want to hear; a perfect accompaniment to the chilly goings-on in "Violent Midnight." And oh...a great-looking print on this DVD, from the good folks at Dark Sky.

"Violent Midnight" follows a troubled veteran-turned-artist who lives off his family's large inheritance in a small Connecticut town. After one of his portrait models is viciously stabbed to death, he, along with her abusive boyfriend, become the prime suspects.

This effort from producer Del Tenney plays out very much like the dimestore suspense novels of the 1960s, chock full of sensuality, illicit romances, and vicious killings plaguing a small town. It also shares similarities with the giallos of this era, particularly with the first-person POV cinematography of the killer, as well as the shots of the assailant's gloved hands and knife. While it has been likened to "Psycho," it is not quite as egregious a facsimile as something like, say, William Castle's "Homicidal," and is much more concerned with the romantic relationships between the characters which amp up the steam factor. There is quite a bit of nudity in the film, which is surprising for the era, and gives it an extra edge of salaciousness.

One of the film's strong suits is its stark cinematography, which reaches a zenith in the final scene, which takes place in a dark mansion during a violent thunderstorm. The black-and-white photography makes use of shadows skillfully, and the murder sequences (one in a bedroom, the other at a lake) are atmospheric and frightening. The performances here are decent for the type of film this is; James Farentino in particular gives a fun performance as a greaser who can't keep it in his pants. Sylvia Miles makes an appearance as one of Farentino's abused girlfriends.

All in all, this is a relatively amusing period picture that very much embodies the era in which it was made. It plays out like a cheap dimestore thriller paperback, but there is a nasty edge to it that rears its head during the murder sequences which makes it stand out from many of its peers. The atmospheric locations and cinematography also add a sense of foreboding to the proceedings, and the finale, as odd as it is, manages to give the audience a few small surprises. Not high art, but art nonetheless. 7/10.

When Alfred Hitchcock's PSYCHO opened the door, many other films followed, and the early 1960s saw a glut of low-budget, black and white thrillers that held scantily clad women at the point of a knife. Released in 1964, VIOLENT MIDNIGHT (also known as PSYCHOMANIA or BLACK AUTUMN) is fairly typical of the genre but better than most.

When Delores is found stabbed to death in her rooms there are two very obvious suspects: Elliot, the reclusive artist who has employed her as a model, and Charlie, her tough-guy boyfriend. After all, the two men had a bar room knife fight over her the night before! Fortunately Elliot has his half-sister, who has just arrived to attend a local all-girl college, for support. But before too long the student body becomes precisely that, and both Elliot and Charlie come under renewed suspicion.

The cast is unexpectedly solid. Leading man Lee Philips (in the role of artist Elliot Freeman) and supporting actor Shepperd Strudwick (as his attorney) both had long and respectable careers both before and after VIOLENT MIDNIGHT; James Farentino, Sylvia Miles, and Dick Van Patten would go on to notable careers of their own. Even so, there's nothing subtle about the script, which crams everything from biker chicks to college sirens into the mix, and most viewers will probably identify the killer in the first twenty minutes of the film.

Even so, and in spite of a budget that was clearly just this side of zero, VIOLENT MIDNIGHT isn't a bad little flick, and it easily holds its own with the likes of the better-known DEMENTIA 13. It will probably lack appeal for the casual viewer, but fans of 1960s B-movies will have a good time.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer