L'Homme aux ciseaux

"Schizoid" is a fair early-80's slasher flick that suffers from a distinct lack of personality. It boasts a somewhat name, B-list cast, and derivative yet effective stalking scenes. Writer-director David Paulsen tries, in vain, to make everyone a suspect, but you eventually stop caring because of the clumsy script contrivances he expects us to swallow. But there's nothing here you haven't seen before, except maybe Klaus Kinski, wildly miscast but still highly entertaining as a marriage counselor who carries on affairs with his patients! I'm not ashamed to admit he kept me watching the whole way through. 2.5 stars out of 5.

"Schizoid" is a so-so stalk 'n' slash 80s thriller with a cast of familiar faces but not much to really recommend it. As a mystery it doesn't exactly work; despite the presence of red herrings, most people will figure out who the killer is early on. The kill scenes have no flair, and slasher lovers will be disappointed with the almost complete absence of gore, even though the murder weapon is a pair of scissors. As for female flesh, the ever lovely Donna Wilkes (of "Angel" fame) does give us - and her leering father - a little bit of a look at the goods. The dialogue, courtesy of writer / director David Paulsen ("Savage Weekend") is downright silly at times, but the cast does whatever it can with the material.

The pretty Mariana Hill ("High Plains Drifter") stars as Julie, an advice columnist who is receiving threatening letters from some unbalanced individual. At the same time, members of her therapy group are being knocked off. Who could the maniac be? Pieter Fales (Klaus Kinski), the sleazy psychiatrist moderating the group who has a habit of fooling around with his female patients? Doug (Craig Wasson, "Ghost Story"), Julie's soon-to-be ex-husband who doesn't want to divorce? Pieters' daughter Alison (Wilkes), an angry young woman who resents the presence of Julie in her fathers' life? Or off-putting, lonely maintenance man Gilbert (Christopher Lloyd)? The two detectives on the case (Richard Herd of "Trancers" and Joe Regalbuto of 'Murphy Brown') don't take Julie seriously at first but eventually come around.

Also featuring Flo Lawrence ("Don't Answer the Phone!") and Fredric Cook ("Jackson County Jail"), this just isn't as much fun as the viewer might wish. It's trashy enough to keep it amusing and watchable. A glum looking Kinski is interesting to watch, as always. Hill and Wasson are likable, but Wasson has what is one of the dumbest moments in the film regarding Dougs' reaction to one of the letters. Wilkes is a delight as the somewhat disturbed daughter. Lloyd is good as he underplays his role. Herd is clearly just picking up a paycheck. Everything climaxes in an awkward sequence in which all of the suspects show up in one location. Perhaps the most egregious element of "Schizoid" is the awful - albeit sometimes amusingly awful - music score by Craig Hundley, who did much better work for "Alligator" the same year.

Dedicated completists of 80s slasher cinema will want to see this, for sure, but they're advised simply to just keep those expectations low and they might have a reasonably good time.

Five out of 10.

The most unbelievable part of Schizoid is the fact that every female patient of Klaus Kinski's therapy group wants to sleep with him. Not to be ugly or anything, but the man looks like a serial killing rapist and seems mentally unstable himself. Maybe this would have worked with a less creepy actor in the role, but it doesn't ring true the way it is.

Anyway, Schizoid is about a newspaper advice writer who keeps getting creepy letters that look like ransom notes. Could these be connected to the recent string of scissor murders that have terrorized her therapy group - the one run by Klaus Kinski?

Schizoid wants to go down a classier road than the other slashers at the time with it's relative lack of blood and adult cast. That's admirable, but there's not a whole lot of mystery here, especially after the opening murder where we can clearly see the killer's reflection in the rear view mirror of the car they're driving.

It also gets things off on the wrong foot by having the most boring opening scene of all time. Instead of starting off with the first murder, we spend a few minutes in our leading lady's apartment at night as she writes, goes to the fridge, etc. There's nothing interesting or gripping about it.

Schizoid is a good movie to have on in the background while you organize your clothes, but nothing more.

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!...