Poor Albert and Little Annie

My review was written in March 1983 after a Greenwich Village screening.

A modest B-film lensed as "Poor Albert and Little Annie" in 1972, this ineffectual psycho-on-the-loose picture enjoys an enduring notoriety by virtue of its title change to "I Dismember Mama". Though the material is suitably distasteful and morbid, meek presentation will disappoint gorehounds lured by that title.

Quite impressive as the outwardly cool but deranged killer, Zooey Hall escapes form a sanitorium after the authorities prohibit him from watching stag movies in his room. Beginning a string of killings with a bald orderly, he's out to punish his rich mother (Joanne Mooe Jordan) whom he blames for having sent him there and cut off from the family's $30,000,000 nest egg.

Arriving at the family mansion, Hall terrorizes and kills the busty redhead housekeeper (Marlene Tracy). When her pre-teen daughter Annie (Geri Reischl) returns home from school, the film segues into a U. S. version of the French classic "Sundays and Cybele", as romantic music, lyrical montages and a generally pleasant mood accompany Hall and Reiscl's idyll together. At night, his warped sexual urges surface, but resisting the impulse, Hall sublimates by going out and picking up an adult blonde woman at an L. A. pool hall.

Besides the absence of gore, film relies upon unbelievable police procedure to keep its narrative going, and script is fatally flawed by the absence of a confrontation between Hall and his mom. (In fact, they have no footage together.) Among the more familiar cast members, Greg Mullavey (of tv's "Mary Hartman") is miscast as the incompetent detective on the case.

Low-budget filming is poorly lit (multiple shadows abound( and lacking in action until the derivative chase through a warehouse of mannikins finale. Punchy big band score by Herschel Burke Gilbert is a plus.

Director Paul Leder went on to film the 3-D opus "Ape", and more recently "I'm Going to Be Famous" with Mullavey in the latter. Scriptwriter William Norton would appear to be the same one who worked on a dozen Levy-Gardner-Laven productions such as "Sam Whiskey" and "Gator", distinct from the B. W. L. Norton (of "Cisco Pike", "More American Graffiti"), but confusing credits over the past decade still need to be sorted out (e.g., Bill Norton Senior of "Night of the Juggler" and William Norton Senior of "Dirty Tricks").

Don't let the clever I DISMEMBER MAMA title lead you to believe that this is going to be a bull's-eye grindhouse classic. Simply stated, this is a strictly par B thriller full of hand-me-down ideas, possibly a notch higher on the sicko-meter for presenting a psychotic antagonist unwholesomely obsessed with a little girl. Beyond that, a faceless dime-a-dozen vehicle with the usual kook harboring the usual resentment of females, and the usual unlucky lasses who become his victims.

It's a visually unappealing affair, with better performances from its principal cast than the base material really deserves, and a few scenes are admittedly set up fairly well. In the bigger picture, however, this is just an unimaginatively assembled exposition of something we've all seen a thousand times before, and done a thousand times better.

4/10...passable, but you'll certainly live to tell about how you didn't bother to see it.

Albert (Zooey Hall) has some serious issues. He believes that all women are "whores". He also believes that his mother (Joanne Moore Jordan) is the cause of all his problems. Albert also suffers from severe WBHS (Warren Beatty Hair Syndrome).

Dr. Burton (Frank Whiteman) is convinced that Albert is dangerously disturbed and should be institutionalized. Shockingly, mum won't hear of it.

Albert begins a killing spree, sporting an awesome Fedora / turtleneck ensemble. All the while, the theme song "Poor Albert" plays on like some terribly-written accomplice.

I DISMEMBER MAMA is a thoroughly preposterous experiment in early 1970's misogyny. It wavers between being a tale of sadistic terror and a hilarious parody of itself. The aforementioned, misplaced theme song is a marvel!

Albert himself is at once a repellent, murdering pig, and a complete bonehead. One simply must witness his jumping matador dance routine!

BEST SCENES: #1- Albert's theological discussion on the lake, intercut with scenes of his last homicide! #2- Abert's history lesson on the way to a hotel bridal suite! Pure cinematic genius!

Special accolades must go to Greg Mullavey's unforgettable role as the yelling cop. Really, who yells like that?

No human soul could possibly be prepared for the crying, screaming, tantrum-induced anti-doom of the finale!

No actual mannequins were harmed...

Such a marvelous film. I particularly loved the title song, sung by Rocket Roden. When Roden sings, people listen. I am enthralled by this masterpiece. This is all I have to say. Now, leave me alone.

Zooey Hall, I've not seen him in any other role but, boy, was he perfect for the part of Albert. He certainly is a creepy-lookin' fellow. No wonder he's credited as playing "Joanie's Weird Boyfriend" on a Happy Days episode.

I Dismember Mama is an irksome film with laughable music throughout, even for the period. The scenes where Albert is chasing Annie has accompanying music that sounds like something from the old Adam West "Batman" TV-series. It ruins the climatic scenes. Summed up, there's not much to see, well . . . some '70s nudity.