hollywoodstrangler

The Hollywood Strangler Meets the Skid Row Slasher (1979)
72 min

Today we're sitting down with Ray Dennis Steckler's almost silent horror film, The Hollywood Strangler Meets the Skid Row Slasher. This title's quite a mouthfull, though not as much as his previous The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed Up Zombies. In all fairness though, I wouldn't accuse Steckler of trying to sponge off of the noteriety of his earlier film for two reasons. First, I don't think his earlier film had a whole lot in the way of noteriety, and second I think he was trying to sponge off of the noteriety of earlier monster vs. monster movies along the lines of Frankenstien Meets the Wolfman or Godzilla vs. Mothra....or perhaps even The Lemon Grove Kids Meet the Monsters (nahhh....).

I refer to this one as almost silent because like other exploitation movies, Steckler recorded little to no live sound. In this particular case it looks like there was absolutely nothing recorded on set in the way of audio. What we end up with is a strange combination of post production voice over mixed with a suprisingly strong musical score from Henri Price. Price worked on several Steckler films, as well as Russ Meyer's Mudhoney.

The body of the film would be mind numbingly repetative if it weren't so short. Basically we have to killers running around the LA area, if it's supposed to be a mystery as to who they are, it's not a very good one. First, we have The Hollywood Strangler, played by Pierre Augustini. The Hollywood Strangler, as you might have guessed, strangles �photographer�s models� because they are trash and make him think of Marsha. We don�t really get much insight into who Marsha is, but to be honest, I was never that interested. Now if you thought that�s all a Hollywood Strangler would be up to, I�ve got news for you: He also plays with some pigeons, drinks beer without his shirt on, and stalks a certain Skid Row Slasher played by Carolyn Brandt. In Augostini�s defense though, he didn�t know she was a Skid Row Slasher, I wouldn�t want you to get the wrong idea. The Skid Row Slasher�s ideas of a good time are even more befuddling. By day she seems to be the sole proprietor of a rather sparse looking bookstore near a movie theater that seems to be running a quadruple feature porn show. She tries to balance he down time with hobbies that range from the expected throat slashing of homeless drunks to jogging down the beach and collecting kinky S & M gear. She�s even been known to stop by the local Occult Supply store from time to time�I�d like to see Agent Mulder create a profile on this one.

Anyway, after countless stalking scenes, the two meet in a confrontation that falls somewhat short of the battle of the ages. Like I said, the bulk of the movie is made of repetitive scenes focusing on the two title characters. Luckily for us viewer, most of the Hollywood Strangler�s victims show off their goods before they�re done in. Augostini�s voiceovers are almost unbearably silly, but do give the film a good deal of unintentional comic value. You would think that a 72 minute film would probably not suffer from slow pacing problems, but then you would probably be forgetting to figure in the Steckler factor! If it weren�t for the frequency of the aforementioned highlights, this film might run the risk of being a complete turkey.

I might seem like I�m being a bit hard on old Ray. If you�re a fan of any of his other work, it�s worth checking out. In comparison, it�s pretty dark and not as wild, but it still feels like a Steckler movie. It�s not a complete waste of time by any means. There are just far more exciting exploitation pictures out there. The real reason for picking this one up though would be to enjoy the wonderful disc Media Blasters put out through their Guilty Pleasures line. As far as presentation goes, the movie looks and sounds as good as I imagine it ever will. The real standouts here are the two commentary tracks included, one from Steckler himself, and the other from Drive In Movie Critic Joe Bob Briggs.

Steckler is a unique individual, and I truly enjoy him on this commentary. You can hear an obvious love of both filmmaking and ex wife Carolyn Brandt in everything he says. On the other hand, he sometimes seems delusionaly proud of this movie. With every close up he feels the need to compliment himself on a job well done. He then talks about the joys and perils of no budget filmmaking. At one point he urges us to ponder who would come out ahead if both he and Spielberg were given $10,000 to make a movie. I the end though, Steckler�s love of the medium, and the people around him won me over. It takes a special kind of person to shut out all the critics around you and truly believe in what you do. Also to Steckler�s credit, he seems to have quite a memory on him, fondly remembering many details about even the smallest parts and characters in the film. He even apologizes for misspelling Pierre Augostini�s name �Augostino� on the film credits! Steckler seems a little lost as he tells some stories twice and then questions himself as to whether or not he�s already brought that up on the track. It�s nice to hear a commentary where everything seems truly off the cuff and not researched or rehearsed. I would hate to see him saddled down with a buffoonish moderator (this means YOU, Martin Lewis!).

As for Briggs�s commentary, it�s no surprise that he�s in fine form once again. Insightful and funny as ever, I often wonder where the world would be without the cosmic wisdom of Joe Bob Briggs. There�s never really a dull moment as Briggs discusses genre conventions, the auteur known as Ray Dennis Steckler, serial killer traits, 70s era Hollywood Blvd., and even pokes fun at a thing or two in the process. One of his tracks is reason enough for me to buy any DVD, and he�s at the top of his game here.

The disc is rounder out with some interviews and some uninspired newly cut trailers from other Media Blasters releases. The interviews are okay, but lack the spontaneity and genuine feel of Steckler�s commentary. They are still worth a look, but don�t particularly stand out.

On a biographical note, to the best of my knowledge, this is the last film collaboration between Steckler and Brandt. He did re team with Augostini seven years later in 1986 on a film called Las Vegas Serial Killer. I�ve yet to see this one, but it appears to be a follow up to this one. I have to admit that I�d be interested to see where Steckler takes this story nearly a decade later.

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Review by Joe Canistro 02/25/2005

I give this one 2 Rat Pfinks out of 5