Three crime films with some pretty horrific tones to them: The Black Panther (1977) The Candy Snatchers (1973) and Man on a Swing (1974). The Black Panther is one of the great unsung British crime films and chronicles the real-life robbery, kidnapping and murder spree of Donald Neilson, who most notably kidnapped, entombed and subsequently killed Lesley Whittle in a drainage shaft while trying to collect a ransom. The film does a great job showing how unhinged this guy is; The Phantom Killer from The Town that Dreaded Sundown immediately comes to mind looking at this guy's get up. It also really imparts on the viewer the terror of being in the clutches of a madman.
The Candy Snatchers has a similar plot in which three criminals kidnap and bury a young girl alive in a bid for ransom from her family, unfortunately, her step father uses this as an opportunity to collect a multimillion-dollar inheritance. The film has several twists and turns like that and creates a tense and bleak atmosphere in which you hope for a sunny resolution but at the end of which you are simply left saying "Damn…". Man on a Swing follows a cop (Cliff Robertson) investigating a murder and becoming involved with a creepy, malevolent little clairvoyant, played by Joel Grey, whom he begins to suspect may be more involved in one way or another than at first he thought.
Three films about houses of psychotic women: The Corruption of Chris Miller (1973), Symptoms (1974) and Singapore Sling (1990). In The Corruption of Chris Miller, when he takes up residence in the isolated country home of two reclusive, repressed misandrist women, a man who is wrongly thought to be a particularly vicious serial killer, suffers for it. Jose Ramon Larraz is one of my favorite horror directors and with Symptoms he created a truly great and atmospheric film about madness which imparts a rain-soaked sense of dread. Singapore Sling is a bizarre mashup of noir, horror and art film which tells the story of a detective searching for his missing lover and who winds up in the clutches of her murderers, a profoundly insane and incestuous mother-daughter pair who hold him hostage and incorporate him into their sex activities.
Three films about female revenge: Lipstick (1976), Remember My Name (1978) and Tattoo (1981). Lipstick is a rape-revenge film starring Chris Sarandon and the Hemingway sisters, Margaux and Mariel. A slimy rapist is acquitted after attacking a model and sets his sites on her younger sister for which she removes him from the earth. Remember My Name is a stunning film starring Geraldine Chaplin and Anthony Perkins about a murderess being released from jail and tracking down her former husband and ruining his newfound marital bliss in a bid to win him back. Tattoo tells the story of a model (Maud Adams) being kidnapped, held hostage and inked by a deranged tattoo artist (Bruce Dern) who seeks to realize his masterpiece on a living canvas.
Ghastly1,
Eternal thanks for all these great titles! Quite a few I’ve missed! I recently watched The Corruption of Chris Miller and thought it was great! The rain-coated killer in that was damn scary and reminded me of a precursor to Home For The Holidays (’72) and I know What you Did last summer. (BTW: that hooded guy in the Black Panther ’77) image is damn scary too). I saw LIPSTICK at a way too young age in the early days of VHS and found it really disturbing. I picked up an ancient VHS copy of it a couple years ago and have been putting off watching it again. I did recently re-watch Abel Ferrara’s Ms.45 and was glad for the image upgrade. Did not remember it as such a colorful movie. TATTOO reminds me so much of the early days of cable. I’ve got that VHS too and have always loved that poster art!
I don’t know how I’ve missed MAN ON A SWING all these years. Wish I knew about it sooner because Friday’s Funhouse is all about psychics and I would have included it if I only knew!
Scream Factory announced a Tattoo blu ray a few years ago, but subsequently cancelled it. They couldn’t find usable elements. I’ll guess the original camera negative is long gone.