Released during the flood of slasher films after the successes of Halloween (1978) and Friday the 13th (1980), this grittier, New York-set film, is closer to a character study (like the proceeding, and superior Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986)), than the more fantastical killers of most stalk and slash fare. Frank Zito (Joe Spinell) represents the lone killer, preying on young, vulnerable (and incredibly stupid) women, and procures their scalps to dress his "flat-mates" (a collection of dress shop mannequins). He has many of the character traits of previous screen villains of this ilk, such as Norman Bates - Frank clearly has a mummy complex that manifests itself through audio flashbacks, illustrating a youth cradled with violence. Frank's raison d'etre here is quite simple, if slightly unnerving. He seems to be attempting to reconstruct the image of his mother onto these fibre-glass entities.
The story was written by Spinell himself (a man who could previously be seen in such classics as The Godfather (1972), Taxi Driver and Rocky (both 1976)), and his performance is fantastically sweaty and creepy. Being set in the grim New York, it is impossible to separate it from the real life killings of David Berkowitz (more commonly known as Son of Sam), and one scene particularly highlights these murders as an influence. A disco couple sit in a parked car (the male is played by Tom Savini, who also created the gruesome special effects), copping off, when a shotgun fires and Savini's head explodes to bloody effect.
What differentiates this from much of the films in the saturated sub-genre market is its realism, and sense of filth. But besides the more horrific elements, it even manages both pathos and even some very black humour. In the scenes in Frank's flat, he talks incessantly to the mannequins, and this becomes his downfall in an absurdist, paranoid finale. But perhaps what the film mostly left me with, was that 20th century society creates these kind of monsters due to isolation. We are continuously separating ourselves from the idea of community, locking ourselves within walls and minds. Perhaps a lesson should be learnt from the damaging effects of our capitalist consumer society.
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