The Killing Kind (1973 film)

Last updated
The Killing Kind
The Killing Kind poster.jpg
Theatrical poster
Directed by Curtis Harrington
Written by
Produced byGeorge Edwards
Sal Grasso
Leon Mirell
Starring
Cinematography Mario Tosi
Music byAndrew Belling
Distributed byMedia Trend Productions
Release dates
Running time
95 minutes [lower-alpha 1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Killing Kind is a 1973 American psychological horror film directed by Curtis Harrington, and starring Ann Sothern, John Savage, Ruth Roman, Luana Anders, and Cindy Williams. It follows a young man who, after being released from prison for a sexual assault he did not commit, submits to his impulsive urge to seek revenge against those who wronged him. The film is based on a screenplay by Tony Crechales, whose screenplay was revised by producer George Edwards, an associate producer on Harrington's previous film, What's the Matter with Helen? (1971).

Contents

The film features music by Andrew Belling and cinematography by Italian cameraman Mario Tosi.

Plot

Terry Lambert serves two years in prison after being physically forced to participate in a gang rape when the victim, Tina Moore, lies about the nature of the incident. Terry's eccentric mother, Thelma, runs a large Victorian boarding house in suburban Los Angeles, primarily for elderly ladies. Terry and Thelma have a relationship of unusual intimacy. Thelma, an amateur photographer, obsessively photographs Terry, and frames the numerous portraits in the house.

When Terry returns home after the prison stay, he moves back into the boarding house. The day after his arrival, a young woman, Lori Davis, arrives from Arizona and rents a room. Shortly after, Thelma finds one of her beloved pet cats dead. One day at the poolside, Terry pulls Lori into the water after she playfully pushes him in, and becomes aggressive, holding her head underwater. The altercation is witnessed by Thelma, who blames Lori for "leading Terry on," and Louise, a shy librarian who lives next-door.

Later, Terry borrows his mother's car to stalk Tina, chasing her and nearly forcing her off the road. Meanwhile, Louise takes an interest in Terry, and sparks a conversation with him by the pool one night, and makes a sexual advance at him. Louise later claims to Terry that she was not actually trying to seduce him. Terry subsequently visits the home of Rhea Benson, the attorney who failed to get him a reduced sentence. In a deranged state, Terry forces her at knifepoint to ingest a significant amount of alcohol. When she falls unconscious, Terry lights her house on fire, burning her alive.

At the boarding house, Terry gets into another altercation with Lori while attempting to fix her leaking shower head, and strangles her to death in the bathtub. Thelma finds Lori's corpse in the bathroom, and helps to dispose of the body to protect Terry. The two stuff Lori's corpse in a trash can and haul it to a local dump in the middle of the night. However, Louise observes the two moving the trash can and becomes suspicious, calling the police. Thelma puts potassium cyanide into chocolate milk she makes for Terry. Terry, not knowing it is poisoned, drinks, and dies on the sofa as Thelma cradles him in her lap. She takes one final photo of him, and she hears sirens approaching in the distance.

Cast

Production

The Killing Kind was filmed in the Larchmont section of Los Angeles in 1972. [1]

Release

The film was handled by the distributor Media Trend Productions. In an interview, Harrington remarked, "They knew about as much about distribution as my grandmother". The film was released on the states' rights circuit and because it was not known where the film had played, it prohibited the film from getting a wide release. After a May 1973 screening at the Cannes Film Festival, [1] the film opened regionally in Austin, Texas on July 13, 1973. [2] It subsequently opened in drive-in theaters in Fort Worth, Texas on December 12, 1973. [3]

In 2003, the film was shown in a retrospective on Harrington at Film Forum in New York City.

Home media

The film went largely unseen until Paragon Video released it on VHS in 1987 (the UK VHS release was retitled The Psychopath). It was later released as the second half of a double bill with James Landis's The Sadist (1963) on a DVD from Diamond Entertainment Corporation in 2003.

Dark Sky Films released the film on Region 1 DVD in 2007. The release features an interview with Harrington made shortly before his death. Vinegar Syndrome released the film on Blu-ray in 2018. [4]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ The American Film Institute lists the film as running approximately 95 minutes, though an extended cut of 105 minutes is also noted. [1]

Related Research Articles

<i>Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?</i> British TV sitcom (1973–1974)

Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? is a British sitcom which was broadcast on BBC1 between 9 January 1973 and 9 April 1974. It was the colour sequel to the mid-1960s hit The Likely Lads. It was created and written, as was its predecessor, by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais. There were 26 television episodes over two series, and a subsequent 45-minute Christmas special was aired on 24 December 1974. The show won the BAFTA Television Award for Best Situation Comedy in 1974.

<i>Thelma & Louise</i> 1991 film by Ridley Scott

Thelma & Louise is a 1991 American crime drama film directed by Ridley Scott and written by Callie Khouri. The film stars Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis as Louise and Thelma, two friends who embark on a road trip that ends up in unforeseen circumstances. The supporting cast includes Harvey Keitel, Michael Madsen, Christopher McDonald, and Brad Pitt. Filming took place in California and Utah from June to August 1990.

Lori Kay Soares Hacking was a teacher who was murdered by her husband Mark Douglas Hacking in 2004 in Salt Lake City, Utah. She was reported missing by her husband, and the search gained national attention before her husband confessed to the crime.

<i>Foxy Brown</i> (film) 1974 film by Jack Hill

Foxy Brown is a 1974 American blaxploitation action film written and directed by Jack Hill. It stars Pam Grier as the title character who takes on a gang of drug dealers who killed her boyfriend. The film was released by American International Pictures as a double feature with Truck Turner. The film uses Afrocentric references in clothing and hair. Grier starred in six blaxploitation films for American International Pictures.

<i>Fortress</i> (1992 film) 1992 film by Stuart Gordon

Fortress is a 1992 science fiction action film directed by Stuart Gordon and shot at Warner Bros. Movie World in Queensland, Australia. The story takes place in a dystopian future. The main character, John Henry Brennick, and his wife Karen B. Brennick are sent to a maximum security prison because she is pregnant with a second child, which is against a strict one-child policy.

<i>Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood</i> 1988 film by John Carl Buechler

Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood is a 1988 American supernatural slasher film directed by John Carl Buechler and starring Lar Park Lincoln, Kevin Blair, Susan Blu, Terry Kiser, and Kane Hodder in his first appearance as Jason Voorhees, a role he would reprise in three subsequent films. It is a sequel to Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986) and the seventh installment in the Friday the 13th franchise. Set seven years after the events of the previous film, the plot follows a psychokinetic teenage girl (Lincoln) who unwittingly releases Jason from his tomb at the bottom of Crystal Lake, allowing him to go on another killing spree in the area.

<i>The Glass House</i> (2001 film) Film by Daniel Sackheim

The Glass House is a 2001 American psychological mystery thriller film directed by Daniel Sackheim and written by Wesley Strick. The film stars Leelee Sobieski, Diane Lane, Stellan Skarsgård, and Bruce Dern with supporting roles by Kathy Baker, Trevor Morgan, and Chris Noth. It tells the story of two siblings who go to live with friends of their parents as the oldest of the siblings starts to get suspicious of the family friends' patriarch. Released on September 14, 2001, the film received negative reviews from critics and grossed $23.6 million.

The Scar of Shame is a silent film shot in the winter of 1927 and released in April 1929. It is a silent film melodrama featuring black actors and was written for a predominantly black audience. It premiered from April 13–17, 1929 in the M&S Douglas Theatre in New York City. Its second screening ran from April 15–20, 1929 at Gibson's Theatre, Philadelphia.

<i>Dementia 13</i> 1963 film by Francis Ford Coppola

Dementia 13, known in the United Kingdom as The Haunted and the Hunted, is a 1963 independently made black-and-white horror-thriller film produced by Roger Corman, and written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola in his feature film directorial debut. The film stars William Campbell and Luana Anders with Bart Patton, Mary Mitchell, and Patrick Magee. It was released in the United States by American International Pictures during the fall of 1963 as the bottom half of a double feature with Corman's X: The Man with the X-ray Eyes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luana Anders</span> American actress (1938–1996)

Luana Anders was an American film and television actress and screenwriter.

<i>Tension</i> (film) 1949 film by John Berry

Tension is a 1949 American crime film noir directed by John Berry, and written by Allen Rivkin, based on a story written by John D. Klorer. It stars Richard Basehart, Audrey Totter, Cyd Charisse and Barry Sullivan.

<i>Pet Sematary</i> (1989 film) 1989 film by Mary Lambert

Pet Sematary is a 1989 American supernatural horror film and the first adaptation of Stephen King's 1983 novel of the same name. Directed by Mary Lambert, with King writing the screenplay, it stars Dale Midkiff, Denise Crosby, Blaze Berdahl, Fred Gwynne, and Miko Hughes as Gage Creed. The title is a sensational spelling of "pet cemetery".

<i>Amityville: A New Generation</i> 1993 film by John Murlowski

Amityville: A New Generation is a 1993 American direct-to-video supernatural horror film directed by John Murlowski. It is the seventh film based on The Amityville Horror, and stars Ross Partridge, Julia Nickson-Soul, Lala Sloatman, David Naughton, Richard Roundtree, and Terry O'Quinn.

<i>Games</i> (film) 1967 psychological thriller film directed by Curtis Harrington

Games is a 1967 American psychological horror film directed by Curtis Harrington and starring Simone Signoret, James Caan, and Katharine Ross. Its plot follows two jaded Manhattan socialites who engage in a series of mind games with a German cosmetics agent whom they invite into their home.

<i>Blood Rage</i> 1987 American slasher film by John Grissmer

Blood Rage is a 1987 American slasher film directed by John Grissmer, written by Bruce Rubin, and starring Louise Lasser, Mark Soper, and Julie Gordon. Set on Thanksgiving, the film follows a woman and her adult son who are stalked at their remote apartment community by the son's unhinged twin brother who has escaped from a psychiatric institution after allegedly murdering a man years earlier.

"Sacred Cow" is the third episode of the first season of the animated comedy series Bob's Burgers. "Sacred Cow" originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 23, 2011.

<i>Les démoniaques</i> 1974 film

Les démoniaques is a 1974 French rape and revenge supernatural horror film written and directed by Jean Rollin, and starring Joëlle Coeur, Lieva Lone, Patricia Hermenier, John Rico, and Willy Braque.

<i>City Without Men</i> 1943 film by Sidney Salkow

City Without Men is a 1943 American film noir crime film directed by Sidney Salkow and starring Linda Darnell, Edgar Buchanan and Michael Duane. It was released by Columbia Pictures on January 14, 1943. A group of women lives in a boarding house near a prison where the residents are the wives of the prison inmates.

<i>The House That Vanished</i> 1973 British film by José Ramón Larraz

The House That Vanished is a 1973 British exploitation horror film directed by José Ramón Larraz, written by Derek Ford, and starring Andrea Allan, Karl Lanchbury and Judy Matheson. Its plot follows a young fashion model who witnesses a murder in an abandoned house in the woods, but is unable to relocate it after reporting the crime to police.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "The Killing Kind". AFI Catalog of Feature Films . American Film Institute . Retrieved February 22, 2022.
  2. ↑ "Callboard: New Films". Austin American-Statesman . July 12, 1973. p. 25 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ↑ "Fort Worth Drive-In Theatres". Fort Worth Star-Telegram . December 12, 1973. p. 14 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ↑ "The Killing Kind Blu-ray". Blu-ray.com. Archived from the original on February 22, 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.