Poupées de cendres

Freddie Francis continues to be one of my all-time favorite directors(not to mention his superb work in Cinematography) and here's another fine effort from him for Amicus.

A serial killer seems bent on striking at 4 men involved in a common conspiracy. Each victim is found murdered under bizarre and unusual circumstances and in each case a little doll in the victim's likeness is left at the death scene. One Inspector Holloway(played by the then promising talent Patrick Wymark) investigates and uncovers a whole bunch of unusual connections between nearly every character in the film.

This film is terrific visually and in terms of story(it does display some similarities to Alfred Hitchcock's PSYCHO)--one is always left guessing. Great stuff!

Inspector Holloway (Patrick Wymark) is in charge of investigating the murder of Reinhardt Klermer (John Harvey), Victor Ledoux (Robert Crewdson), Frank Saville (Alexander Knox) and Martin Roth (Thorley Walters) and his main lead is a doll in each crime scene. He finds that the dolls belonged to the crippled doll collector Mrs. Von Sturm (Margaret Johnston), who lives with her son Mark Von Sturm (Sir John Standing). Further he learns that the victims had investigated and incriminated her husband in the end of World War II. Inspector Holloway proceeds his investigation with a couple of suspects.

"The Psychopath" is a reasonable horror thriller by Amicus. The plot is strange with a creepy resolution. Anyway it is worthwhile watching this little film. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "As Bonecas da Morte" ("The Death Dolls")

This is one of Amicus's lesser-known films and not one in their usual omnibus format. But it's an effective, creepy tale in what would be known today as the "serial killer" genre. Patrick Wymark is good as the detective, and director Freddie Francis, a multi-Oscar winning cinematographer, always brings a fine visual sense to his films. According to director Subotsky, the ending was re-edited and overdubbed to change the identity of the murderer (!) although this is not discernible on screen.

Is it a thriller or is it a horror? I don't know; the only thing I'm sure of is that this Freddie Francis' movie is a little jewel in its own genre. Supported by a solid plot and well acted, "The Psychopath" has got a real thrilling atmosphere, owed to the experience of its director. After starting as a detective story, towards the end it becomes a horror, cleverly avoiding a ridiculous or banal ending. In my opinion, Freddie Francis at his peak.

Amicus's The Psychopath could be considered a British giallo, the film bearing several of the hallmarks of the genre: a mysterious killer in leather gloves; many suspects; a sexy young woman (blonde beauty Judy Huxtable); the use of a haunting music-box melody; and creepy dolls aplenty. Made in 1966, just three years after the first true giallo, Bava's The Girl Who Knew Too Much, the film is written by Robert 'Psycho' Bloch, directed by Hammer stalwart Freddie Francis, and stars Partrick Wymark as Inspector Holloway, the detective trying to solve a string of murders in which a doll is left by the side of each victim. However, despite these hefty credentials, the film is strictly routine stuff, with little of the bizarre plot twists, creative death scenes, and hyper-stylised visuals that the giallo is renowned for.

Francis does make great use of colour in his film, especially in the home of wheelchair-bound doll collector Mrs. Von Sturm (Margaret Johnston), and performances are solid all round, but the film needed a little something special to make it a more memorable experience (some bright red gore wouldn't have gone amiss in my opinion).