Psycho-Killer (1982)

Psycho-Killer: Directed by William Byron Hillman. With Michael Callan, Joanna Pettet, James Stacy, Pamela Hensley. A photographer for a men’s magazine is disturbed by a recurring dream he has that he is killing his models by various gruesome means. Then he discovers that his city is being terrorized by a slasher who is stalking and murdering women on the streets. He begins to suspect that he may actually be the killer.

“Hereu0026#39;s something a little different from Crown International Pictures: a giallo-flavoured slasher with a strong psychological angle and a decidedly nasty edge. DOUBLE EXPOSURE tells the tale of a photographer plagued by nightmares in which he kills a string of young and beautiful women, and a real-life series of killings taking place at the same time. Could he really be the serial killer responsible? u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eDOUBLE EXPOSURE feels very much like an u0026#39;80s-era giallo along the lines of A BLADE IN THE DARK or NOTHING UNDERNEATH. It has an unusually vicious edge to it for a Crown International film; itu0026#39;s not that itu0026#39;s particularly gory – and itu0026#39;s certainly nowhere near as gory as your average Italian giallo – itu0026#39;s just that the murders are ruthless and mean-spirited. Being a Crown film, thereu0026#39;s ample nudity if youu0026#39;re after that, along with a very low budget that gives a schlocky look to everything that occurs.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe cast give solid rather than unspectacular performances and there are supporting turns for a few familiar faces like Cleavon Little. Michael Callan is pretty good as the weirdo lead, covered in sweat and acting deranged for the most part, although anybody with any experience of this particular genre of films will guess the identity of the killer early on in the proceedings. Nevertheless, DOUBLE EXPOSURE is a breath of fresh air when compared to Crownu0026#39;s typical output (i.e. low budget sex comedies).”