Rating: D+
Dir: “Jonathan Stryker” [Richard Ciupka and Peter Simpson].
Star: John Vernon, Samantha Eggar, Lynne Griffin, Linda Thorson.
This has acquired something of a cult reputation, despite – or, perhaps, because of – a horrendously troubled production. There’s good reason the film is credited to the main character. But it’s not a cult which I will be joining. After a somewhat intriguing opening, it doesn’t mesh. Indeed, whether it’s due to being aware of the difficulties on set, the final product feels like something desperately cobbled together, in an effort to salvage something out of the costs of making it. It begins with director Jonathan Stryker (Vernon) checking leading lady Samantha Sherwood (Eggar) into an insane asylum for treatment. Except, it’s just a ruse so she can do some first-hand research on madness for her next role, as Audra.
Stryker pulls a fast one, abandoning Sherwood there, and inviting six potential candidates as a replacement to his remote home for an “audition”, including a stand-up comedian Patti O’Connor (Griffin), and veteran actress Brooke Parsons (Thorson). Before they even reach there, the numbers are being thinned, and it’s clear that someone is not happy with the artistic process Stryker is using. An obvious candidate is Sherwood, who has somehow (like much of this film, it’s vague on the details) escaped from the facility in which she was confined, and shows up at Stryker’s house, intent on reclaiming the part she was promised. The number of competitors is being reduced, thanks to a scythe-wielding figure in a mask of an elderly woman.
Original director Ciupka left the production in the middle, over “artistic differences” with producer Peter R. Simpson: the former wanted a more giallo-tinged approach, while the latter was looking for a more straightforward slasher. The final result took nearly two years between the start of filming and its end, and I didn’t feel it worked well towards either intended direction. The rewrites required in the middle are often apparent, with some characters simply being written out in off-screen deaths, and there’s not enough style to be truly a giallo. The one exception is a wintry death (top), which is unusual for occurring in bright daylight, as opposed to the usual slasher trope of the victim being stalked through shadows and darkness. The rest is rarely interesting.
[June 2012] Despite its Canadian origins, this feels a lot like a giallo, not least in a fairly-misogynist outlook. The victims are all women, and even before they’re killed, they’re basically used by Stryker as pawns for his pleasure. When he’s not actively bedding them, he’s making them re-enact “scenes” from the film, which probably should be retitled, “My Fantasies, Volume 3”. However, the decent performances from all involved help lift this up, and the one scene mentioned by just about everyone – on an ice-rink – is justly memorable. On the other hand, the stalk-and-slash finale is certainly over-extended, and the transfer is more than a little murky at some points, though not as bad as Secrets of the Clown. While I wouldn’t go as far as some, and call this an undiscovered classic, it’s by no means as terrible as some of its colleagues in the box-set, even for someone like me, who is not really a fan of the genre. For those who look upon slashers more kindly, this is likely worth tracking down. C+