Schizoid

Satisfying and somewhat effective mystery-thriller. It's another 1980s-era movie that's not entirely special but kept my attention throughout. Also fun to see Christopher Lloyd in a film early in his career (though had been on Taxi for a couple years before this release). **3.25/5**

Who is killing the women in Marianna Hill's therapy group? Is it the creepy psychiatrist Klaus Kinski? His troubled yet cute daughter Donna Wilkes (who has a brief nude scene that I had been dreaming about since McLean Stevenson's forgotten sitcom "Hello Larry")? Marianna's grinning ex-husband Craig Wasson? What about a young Christopher Lloyd, the bitter handyman? Or even the even younger looking detective Joe Regalbuto? Hill plays an advice columnist who is having more problems than a week's worth of Ann Landers letters. She is receiving death threats, and someone is killing the women in her group with a large pair of scissors. The killer, whom I figured out right away, wears a fedora and coat, a striking silhouette in the un-scary killing scenes. Hill is also messing around with the chain smoking Kinski, resulting in a sex scene I could have gone all my life without seeing. Kinski is sleeping with a stripper/patient, and he, uh, "analyzes her feelings" against a hot water heater, resulting in another sex scene I could have gone my whole life without seeing. The finale takes place in Hill's newspaper office, as the film makers drag the proceedings out by assembling all of the suspects together, like an Agatha Christie novel, except with shootings and stabbings instead of a parlor full of upper class Brits and a brilliant detective. Filmed and released in 1980, this has all the makings of a slasher film. The few killings here are not all that gory, but violent. The name cast try their best. Paulsen's direction is void of suspense as he hopes his mediocre script will carry the film. Instead, it becomes gimmicky and silly, but trudges along like this is Shakespeare. Between the awful synth score (the scissors have their own theme when they appear) and Kinski's overbaked performance, a viewer must take this with a grain of salt. I cannot recommend this.

**_A psycho targets a therapist’s patients in Los Angeles_** Shot in March, 1980, this debuted five months after “Friday the 13th" and comes in the tradition of 70s’ flicks inspired by “Psycho,” such as “Haunts,” “Schizo,” “The Toolbox Murders” and "Don't Go in the House." The doe-eyed protagonist is effectively played by Marianna Hill, who was 38 during shooting and still lookin’ good. You might recall her from her role as the lovely Dr. Helen Noel in the Star Trek episode “Dagger of the Mind,” as well as the woman that The Stranger manhandles in “High Plains Drifter.” The first act introduces two possible suspects (Klaus Kinski and Chritopher Lloyd), but two more are revealed in the second act. I liked the focus on psychology and the insights thereof, including paranoid suspicions (that don’t pan out). For instance, one person is justifiably irate that he’s being talked about at the group sessions where, ironically, one of the patients stresses that it’s not appropriate to talk negatively about someone who isn’t present to defend himself. Also, the therapist makes a good living as a psychologist, but how can you successfully counsel others if your own house isn’t in order? Petite brunette Donna Wilkes is notable as the doctor’s troubled daughter while Craig Wasson is on hand as the protagonist’s ex. Regrettably, the dramatic first hour is superior to how everything is tied-up in the final half hour, which is eye-rolling in some ways. It runs 1 hour, 29 minutes, and was shot in Los Angeles, with the mansion located at Silver Lake. GRADE: B-