The Psycho Lover

This is the kind of film that can only be truly appreciated in hindsight. It's one of my most guilty of pleasures, the other being 'Ice House' a nasty little thriller of similar vintage.

Director ONeill I would wager saw his share of Bava, probably at least 'Blood And Black Lace'. The murder sequences in 'Psycho Lover' are marvelous set pieces. And interestingly, the women fight back & get in some good licks, these are not generally weak defenseless women.

The music through-out the film is spot on for the time period. There's just something very edgy about the entire proceedings that I really enjoy. Combined with this are some goofy sequences that again, I rather enjoy. ONeill is a capable director. His use of camera, editing approach, story telling ability, use of lighting & mood is first rate. Absolutely I'd rate this as grade A cinema in terms of technical marks, he gets an 'A' on all counts, good work.

Acting as well is first rate. No one really slows it down & everyone has ample time to work their characters into the plot & develop them fully. Dialogue is sharp as well. You may recognize Laurence Montaige from his stint is several Star Trek original series episodes playing a Vulcan, he looks like Spocks Brown Haired Cousin actually & was a natural for Star Trek. He's a capable actor & I always enjoyed his performances albeit I've not seen too much of his other work or am even aware of his professional career much outside this film & some TV work.

I first saw this title in a Drive-In theater before there was such a thing as the internet. Since then I was on the search having even forgotten the name proper of the film. However, images were burned into my brain forever & I was not going to forget this film & as luck would have it I finally struck pay dirt, first in VHS format. This current version is near pristine, good transfer & excellent condition.

I for one think the Dream Sequence is excellent. I like the whole film so sue me! You've got cool frantic music, a wild Daddy Roth style car, a speed boat, a super intelligent psychiatrist with a lake side cabin hide away, a hot to trot mistress, cool gadgets like cassette tape recorders, radar in his car ?! You've got a psychotic killer on the loose, a frustrated cop, a bitter drunken floozy of a wife...the psycho's land lady is named 'Mrs. Gerber'!?! yowza!

This is not however, the kind of film most of your friends will appreciate. The murders are fairly brutal & graphic (by standards of the time) & there's' definitely not too many PC moments a-happenin in this flick. We'll just have to accept the fact that some pleasures are purely esoteric & to explain them or expect too many others to feel the same way is unrealistic.

'The Psycho Lover'; if you love 60's / 70's psychotronic film, bizarre concepts, definitely NON-PC material, this film is for you. Any film that couldn't be made in todays climate gets 2 thumbs up from me anyways, just on principle alone. Check it out.

You have to love a film that so freely admits that it has stolen a major plot element from a (then) current popular film... in fact a character actually mentions that she had just seen this great film called "The Manchurian Candidate" and goes into detail about the plot that the film then goes on to replicate... you have to admire their honesty!

Other than that there is the delightfully silly scene where they attempt to stage a suspenseful cat and mouse scene in a fully lit, sparsly furnished room that is about the size of a small car... and somehow manage to drag it out for several minutes AND make it work (to a point at least).

Until today, if asked me to name my favourite trashy '70s American grind-house movie, my answer would have been either Love Me Deadly (1972) or The Love Butcher (1975); now I reckon The Psycho Lover takes the prize. It's crazy, mean-spirited exploitation goodness from start to finish.

The film opens as it means to go on with a sleazy pre-credits murder scene that is about as un-PC as you can get: a young woman is getting ready for bed when she is attacked by a stranger with a stocking over his face. The intruder proceeds to rape the woman, who eventually starts to enjoy the experience (contentious, to say the least!), but who isn't quite so enthusiastic when the maniac strangles her. It's a taboo-busting start that really grabs the attention.

This opening assault is one of a series of similar misogynistic murders under investigation by Detective Morlock (John Vincent), who enlists the help of psychiatrist Kenneth Alden (Lawrence Montaigne), who delves deep into the psyche of suspect Marco Everson (Frank Cuva) to try and determine whether the man's confessions are real or just fantasy. While treating Marco with hypnotism, Kenneth hatches a plot to rid himself of his drunken floozy of a wife Valerie (Jo Anne Meredith) so that he can spend the rest of his days with his pretty 23-year-old mistress Stacy (Elizabeth Plumb).

In addition to several brutal murder scenes in which each victim is stripped naked, raped and strangled (but not necessarily in that order), The Psycho Lover delivers soft-core love scenes set to hippy pop songs, a hilarious surreal dream sequence featuring a topless go-go dancing woman with bad face paint, a spot of grass sledding, a truly ridiculous plot device that sees the supposedly highly intelligent Kenneth leaving behind incriminating evidence on cassette for his wife to find, a victim repeatedly evading her attacker in a small apartment by hiding behind various pieces of furniture, and a surprisingly downbeat ending. Also worthy of mention is Kenneth's amazing sports car, a really wacky gold-coloured vehicle that looks like several different cars mashed into one, and which comes complete with an electric roof and door, and radar!

9 ketchup bottles out of 10. Check it out!

Dare I confess to admiring this misogynist wallow in depravity? Say what you will about its politics, THE PSYCHO LOVER is way above average of its type in terms of cinematography, editing and entertainment value. The plot concerns a psychiatrist who is treating a patient who police suspect of being a serial rape murderer. The film is punctuated by several almost psychedelic attack scenes, which bristle with an energy rarely seen in films of this budget. Ultimately the doctor tries to use the killer as a tool to release him from his miserable marriage, attempting to hypnotize his patient to do his bidding. This sequence must be seen to be believed: as the diminutive woman-hater sleeps he is plagued by visions of his victims. Acid rock cranks on the soundtrack, a woman with Gene Simmons makeup whispers "Kill...kill," another go-go dances. It doesn't get any better than this, folks. And hardly anyone lives happily ever after. The director also made the equally mean-spirited BLOOD MANIA which is worth a look, but PSYCHO LOVER deserves a cult following.

Sexploitation whodunnit, in which a stocking masked creep commits a series of rapes and murders...but is the perpetrator the lothario doctor with a younger mistress and a ball busting, drunk wife? Or his patient? A raving misogynist who has been having a little too vivid dreams about the murders? Or the Edgar Allan Poe lookalike police inspector?

Around half way through the film tires of concealing the killer's identity and drops that angle in favour of lifting ideas from The Manchurian Candidate. A bit of pilfering that the filmmakers obviously felt guilty enough about to explicitly acknowledge the Manchurian Candidate influence in the dialogue. Director Robert Vincent O'Neil would soon after be making another sexploitation-noir "Blood Mania" for Crown International, and if anything The Psycho Lover feels like O'Neil's calling card to Crown International. It's very much in their slick, shot in L.A. style, with the rape-murder nastiness sharing the screen with trippy psychedelic flourishes, gyrating bewbs, T&A make-out scenes and romantic strolls around California beaches scored to soft rock songs. The screenwriter's idea of hip dialogue includes nuggets like "your ego hangs between your legs" and "the hairs on my ass stand on end every time I catch his scent". The doctor's flash car is also a sight to behold, and may temporary bamboozle you into thinking that The Psycho Lover is meant to be a futuristic film. The film overflows with so much love for that vehicle every time it's onscreen...you just know it had to be either someone's pride and joy, or that they'd been slipped a generous backhander to plug it in the movie.