Massage Parlor Murders | |
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Directed by | Chester Fox Alex Stevens |
Starring |
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Cinematography | Victor Petrashevic |
Release date |
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Running time | 80 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Massage Parlor Murders! is a 1973 American exploitation-crime-horror film directed by Chester Fox and Alex Stevens. The film stars George Spencer, John Moser, Sandra Peabody, Brother Theodore and George Dzundza, who respectively portray Rizotti, Detective O'Mara, Gwen, Theodore, and Mr. Creepy. [1] The film revolves around the detectives Rizotti (Spencer) and O'Mara (Moser) as they investigate the murders of massage parlor workers in the New York area. Marketed as being similar in tone to Alfred Hitchcock's psychological horror film Psycho (1960), the film was released into drive-in theaters and the grindhouse circuit in 1973. Subsequently, the film began to be advertised as a sexploitation film and was released under the title Massage Parlor Hookers! with the horror film elements being removed. The film did not have a home video release until 2013. [2]
Detective Rizotti and his partner Detective O'Mara begin investigating the mysterious murders that have recently started happening in the red light district of New York's massage parlors. After Rosie, a girl that Detective Rizotti visited often at the massage parlor, is murdered, Detective O'Mara goes to talk to Rosie's roommate Gwen, whom he eventually becomes romantically involved with.
Gwen is asked if she has any insights on who the killer might be and she tells him about a man that Rosie called "Mr. Creepy", who made her uncomfortable. The detectives locate the mysterious man and see him exit his apartment; they follow and catch him, and demand that he leave town.
The murders continue to happen, however. Gwen, who works at the Lust Lounge massage parlor, reveals to O'Mara that she does not have sex with her clients and instead acts more like a shrink. Rizotti later attends church with his wife and he then believes the killer is a "religious nut", using the seven deadly sins as his motive.
Rizotti goes to pick up Detective O'Mara and they go to a book store and look up the seven deadly sins and start to piece everything together. They realize that the killer is mutilating the massage parlors workers because their job had a correlation with a deadly sin, the Mad Hatter for anger, the Everybody's Envy massage parlor for envy, and the Lust Lounge for lust, which is the parlor Gwen works for.
The cops rush to the Lust Lounge in a desperate attempt to save Gwen from the killer, only to find her dead. The movie ends with another massage parlor girl being attacked by the killer and she frantically fights back, throwing hot oil on him, which kills him when he catches on fire. [3] [4]
The film was released into the drive-in circuit as a grindhouse film. It opened in Terre Haute, Indiana on April 16, 1975. [5]
In 2013, Vinegar Syndrome released the film on DVD and Blu-ray. [6] [7] This release featured the original and alternate theatrical trailer, rare outtakes, a special edition lab card and extensive historical liner notes.
The film has been met with generally positive reviews. In a contemporary review, Michael Hauss of Theatre of Guts gave a positive review stating, "This film is odd. It is so unbalanced and bizarre that it jolts your sensibilities at times. It has scenes that lead nowhere, it has some good acting performances and some downright awful acting at times, badly framed and edited shots, murky camera work, but, the bottom line is it is a dirty, gritty, sleazy, funky, fun romp." [8] Brian Orndof of Blu-ray.com [9] gave the film a positive review, stating:
Last Road Reviews said, "For a low-budget exploitation film the acting is actually fairly decent at least from the main cast". The review also praised the film's score, noting that it helped the "scenes with no dialogue and only music". [10]
The film was featured on Flavorwire's article "50 Films That Capture the Dark Side of New York City". [11]
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