Synopsis
Two uneasy friends, a police officer and a TV talk show host, each pursue the mysterious "handcuff killer" with the aid of an artist who sees - and draws - the killer's crimes before they're committed.
1982 Directed by Armand Mastroianni
Two uneasy friends, a police officer and a TV talk show host, each pursue the mysterious "handcuff killer" with the aid of an artist who sees - and draws - the killer's crimes before they're committed.
American Killing, The Killing Kind, Un tueur dans la ville, The Killing Hour, L'ora che uccide, La Hora de la Muerte, Час убийства
„American Killing“
Oder eher doch American giallo, oder war es doch ein Whodunit, aber verdammt, angefühlt hat es sich doch eher nach einem TV-Film……..wenn da nicht die ganzen sleazigen Momente wären, mit Nacktheit, dem dreckigen Sex, Rache, Mord und den Toten.
Moment, da sind ja noch diese Psychic-Einschübe, die ein klein wenig an diese Laura……verdammt, Laura und irgendein Planet……..erinnern, egal.
Wem könnte ich nur diesen Streifen jetzt empfehlen?
Tja, Fesselspiel-Fetischisten, entschleunigten Giallo-Liebhabern, blutarmen Slasher-Allesguckern, dem Perry King-Fanclub………keine Ahnung !?
Aber eines sag ich euch, in ein Hallenbad kriegt mich keiner mehr rein.
It's cuffing season.
When a serial killer with a predilection for handcuffing his victims terrorizes NYC, it falls on a crack squad to bring the lunatic to justice (Kenneth McMillan, Joe Morton, and Jon Polito). Unfortunately rather than follow the trials and tribulations of this character acting super group, we instead look at the psychic end of the investigation. The odd man out on our police crew is Norman Parker, who spends most of his days dreaming of being a stand-up comedian. With an act that consists of unironically doing the world's worst George Burns impression, he might not want to quit his day job. Acting as half of a famed duo, Parker's sad bit - or Lonely Burns -…
It’s extremely humbling when you realize you always find the nerds/creeps in horror flicks attractive. They usually only have a maximum of four lines and I'm still sold.
AKA: The Killing Hour
After watching Armand Mastroianni's Camerons Closet the other day I wanted to check out some of his earlier efforts and this one had been on my YouTube watchlist for ages without me realising it was him.
It never really clicked until now that this is a pretty good example of an American giallo, but it makes perfect sense really, not least because it shares more than a few similarities with 1978s Eyes of Laura Mars. To a fault actually because my mind kept flitting back to that film, unfairly (maybe) comparing it to an arguably better film.
In quite a grabber of an opener, a womans body turns up in the Hudson River handcuffed, followed by…
I thought, based on the title and the amazing poster, that this would be a supernatural horror movie. Turns out it’s just a thriller with a couple good kills and a lot of police legwork. Not that that’s a bad thing, it’s actually fairly decent, but nothing standout.
Hey assholes! Turn the fuckin' lights on!
A red-lit indoor pool, both in and out of the water, is a great way to start a horror, but that's as cool as this movie is ever going to get. Later, a man died with his hand over his dick so that his breathing cadaver conveniently wouldn't show any nudity on camera. All these detective guys are talking about how he was molested but his rectum and mouth were clean or something, but somehow they missed his moving belly. I guess they were looking elsewhere.
I would worry more about my ass than my hands if I were you, Weeks.
Fifteen minutes in, and I am rather tired of all this shit…
As an American giallo, this film almost works. The highs are pretty high. The lows aren't that low. But the tone is all over the place (seems like I'm running into a string of weirdly toned films which is okay).
Directed by Armand Mastroianni (of He Knows You're Alone fame), The Clairvoyant focuses on an art student Virna who is having visions of people being murdered by a serial killer who uses handcuffs in the murder of the victims (including one very disturbing scene in a swimming pool). Virna begins to uncontrollably draw her visions which peaks the interest of the police (there's a good bit of police procedural here). The lead detective, Weeks,…
One of the damndest things I've seen in some time. Essentially a Fulci-esque American giallo/serial killer procedural where the lead detective (PRINCE OF THE CITY's Norman Parker) moonlights as a stand-up comedian, Perry King plays a vain newsman, and Joe Polito/Joe Morton are in their own odd buddy cop picture. It all leads to a beautiful, psychic sketch artist (Elizabeth Kemp), whose premonitions of the killings manifest themselves in charcoal drawings, and who becomes entangled in a love triangle with Parker and King. To complicate matters further, the "Handcuff Killer" commits some of the more creative acts of murder I've seen in one of these things in a while, locking one guy to a pool ladder (where we slowly watch…
the real horror here is a standup comedian cop who spends the whole movie doing his woody allen impression!! a police officer who likes annie hall 🤔 that's what we call a nasty lil bitch! there's a pervasive undercurrent of of scuzz that occasionally boils over but it really could've been piled on a little heavier, like if this was a movie exclusively about a woman receiving haunted visions of gruesome murders who records them in frantic automatic drawing sessions and a smidgen less cop procedural drama AND standup sets this wouldve been an all-timer for me. i kinda like all the elements at play but it never turned into full blown love! sad! the ending was at least way more in line with what i was expecting, at least
Cuffs, Mack's, and Leather Jack's welcome to the 80's
She went to nude drawing class yet drew some hand cuffed killings. What a way to spot your super power.
It takes its damn time. Wished the girl had more of the focus rather than swooning for whatever guy gave her attention.
It's an ok pay off, but I know Id have pummeled the guy once it pieced together.
Stylish thriller with a European/Giallo feel but ultimately it's too messy and convoluted to take very seriously. The film this reminded me of the most was The Eyes Of Laura Mars (but executed much less effectively), and for more obscure slasher fans, a movie like Night School that's too stylish to be just a slasher but too American to be a Giallo. Even though it's sloppy, I didn't guess the killer and the reveal was one of the creepier things I've seen in a while. It's an interesting watch but it doesn't really come together somehow.
that pseudo-mainstream look on a movie that has exploitation blood flowing underneath it can take me a long way, but this serial killer thriller definitely loses steam throughout. it ultimately takes uhhhhhhhh a turn though... really sweaty gross vibes in the late-running time here.
the movie purports to be about a clairvoyant who is making charcoal drawings of the "handcuff murderer" but the running time gets taken up by two shitty dudes who are vying for her attention - one of them is an aspiring stand-up comedian (who exclusively performs in godawful Woody Allen and George Burns impressions) and the other has a local news-television show and he wants the clairvoyant on for the ratings
so shitty dude vibes are high here. some of the murders are nightmares tho - handcuffed to a pool ladder under water? handcuffed underneath an elevator comin' 2 squish ya? eeep