(1970)
Dir - Robert Vincent O'Neill
Overall: MEH
The sophomore effort from director Robert Vincent O'Neill, The Psycho Lover, (The Lovely Touch), is a typically D-rent, sleazy exploitation movie full of naked people, brutal rape, horrible music, lots of boring dialog, and soft focus photography. O'Neill made two back-to-back horror efforts in 1970, the other Blood Mania being just as not impressive. As opposed to the era's giallos from across the Atlantic which were churned out in droves, there is no mystery here and the killer is a different type of lunatic. While he does put a pair of pantyhose over his head, he is far from the silent type and not only chats up his victims while telling them to stay perfectly still and obey his every command, (which naturally they never do), but also his therapist Lawrence Montaigne gets all of the icky details. Montaigne's doctor denies telling the police about his client's gruesome confessions because even though a series of murders is taking place, Frank Cuva's wacko antagonist claims that his rapey exploits were all dreams so there is no connection to be made apparently. Yet of course there is more to it than that and it eventually turns into a mind control thriller, be it a poorly scripted and uninteresting one. O'Neill stages some trippy scenes here or there, but the plot is moronic and it detours into flowery montages at too many intervals.
(1975)
Dir - Dan Curtis
Overall: GOOD
Arguably the most famous of all television horror movies and also arguably Dan Curtis' masterpiece was the anthology Trilogy of Terror, which is wildly known for its final segment and antagonist; a foot-tall Zuni fetish doll that is comically creepier than any other such puppet in cinema. While all three stories were based on previous works from prolific author and screenwriter Richard Matheson, he only penned the iconic "Amelia" himself as the other ones were handled by William F. Nolan. The first two segments "Julie" and "Millicent and Therese" are as universally disregarded as "Amelia" is praised, but while they are unavoidably weaker in comparison to the Zuni doll slasher fiesta, neither is a total bore. Starring in all three and even pulling a dual role in one of them, Karen Black's tour de force performance was memorable enough to make her forever synonymous with the horror genre from here on out, for better or worse. In any event, the wait towards the silly yet terrorized, minuscule demon doll throw-down at the end is worth it.
(1978)
Dir - Larry Cohen
Overall: MEH
Continuing his steady stream of films existing in their own anti-logic universe, Larry Cohen's second installment in his It's Alive trilogy It Lives Again, (It's Alive II), is as frustrating as the majority of the director's work. As with the previous movie, the nonchalant way that everyone just accepts the ludicrous situation on hand, blindly trusts total strangers with insane stories, and chums-it up with people that they have been kidnapped by is more aggravatingly stupid than creepy. The premise itself is nonsense which could make for a quirky end product if it was not played so persistently straight. Performances wise, they are as baffling as everything else which is not helped by everyone endlessly talking over each other and scenes with a married couple loudly, (and laughably), arguing, plus one of the least convincing child births that has ever been filmed. It does deliver some chuckles when the ghastly goblin babies finally start murdering people, (which does not happen until almost an hour in), but such moments are too few and far between, let alone surrounded by nonsensical stupidity.
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