This obscure 1967 sexploitation film is so low budget it doesn't have any acting credits at all. It's almost as if no one wanted his or her name associated with such a project. That said, "The Sex Killer" is not a bad little film. Shot in black-and-white on the mean streets of New York City and using live sound (which occasionally renders dialogue unintelligible) it follows the adventures of a shy, sexually repressed nebbish named Tony who works at a mannequin warehouse. He develops a fixation on female mannequins that spirals out of control, leading first to voyeurism, then murder and necrophilia. As serial killer case studies go, this one's not so bad. It lacks the gore and vivid color of the best Italian giallo films, but the women are all beautiful and there's plenty of nudity. The murders are all strangulations and not particularly graphic. This film is realistic in portraying its serial killer as a nondescript, pathetic figure with a low-paying job, little education, and poor social skills, as most serial killers are.
13 Reviews
Take Off My Clothes! What Are You Some Kind Of NUT!!!
sol121815 September 2007
Warning: Spoilers
(Some Spoilers) More like a home movie then anything else "The Sex Killer" plot is your run of the mill sex pervert film with nothing to recommended it but a number of pretty girls, who for the most part end up getting strangled, and a look at the grimy streets and red light district of Manhattan circa the mid 1960's.
Tony who works in a mannequin warehouse in the Garment District of New York City is a bit shy with women having trouble making any connection or striking up any relationship with them. We see at the start of the movie Tony going into a camera store and buying a pair of binoculars that he later uses to spy, from the safety of a high-rise buildings rooftop, on young women sunbathing in the nude. Getting all hot and worked up seeing all these busty young women, who seem to be posing for him, from his porch on top f the high-rise Tony get up enough nerve t go down to Times Square and pick up a hooker.
Tony's encounter with the hooker turns out to be a total dud with him not having enough money to have any action with her. All the hooker allows Tony , who only has $10.00 on him, to do is watch her undress and nothing more. It's then that something inside Tony's sick minds snaps and sets him off to stalk down and murder a number of young women, including the hooker whom he picked up, mostly in their apartments that Tony breaks into.
The film "The Sex Killer" runs it's predictable course with Tony getting more and more careless every time he gets away with murdering his victims. Tony in order to satisfy his sick sexual urges also rapes and violates the womens after he murders them having him dubbed by the local newspapers and police as the "New York Necrophilia Rapist/Killer".
Breaking again into a young woman's apartment in order to satisfy his now out of control and inflamed libido Tony ends up getting caught when she escapes from his clutches. Running out of her apartment and into the hallway ,totally nude, the young woman together with a good neighbor, who gave her a robe to cover up, get a hold of a cop outside the building to arrest the murderous pervert. Chasing Tony up on the roof the cop pulls no punches ,as he pulls out his revolver, blasting Tony and causing him to fall some 20 floors to his death below.
Tony for his part was a very sick young man who desperately needed help to control and cure his uncontrollable and dangerous sexual desires. Unfortunately Tony didn't seek help and it was after he crossed that point of no return when he went from watching to murdering the women that turned him on that there was no help that society, other then long stretch behind bars or a cops bullet in his chest, could offer him.
Tony who works in a mannequin warehouse in the Garment District of New York City is a bit shy with women having trouble making any connection or striking up any relationship with them. We see at the start of the movie Tony going into a camera store and buying a pair of binoculars that he later uses to spy, from the safety of a high-rise buildings rooftop, on young women sunbathing in the nude. Getting all hot and worked up seeing all these busty young women, who seem to be posing for him, from his porch on top f the high-rise Tony get up enough nerve t go down to Times Square and pick up a hooker.
Tony's encounter with the hooker turns out to be a total dud with him not having enough money to have any action with her. All the hooker allows Tony , who only has $10.00 on him, to do is watch her undress and nothing more. It's then that something inside Tony's sick minds snaps and sets him off to stalk down and murder a number of young women, including the hooker whom he picked up, mostly in their apartments that Tony breaks into.
The film "The Sex Killer" runs it's predictable course with Tony getting more and more careless every time he gets away with murdering his victims. Tony in order to satisfy his sick sexual urges also rapes and violates the womens after he murders them having him dubbed by the local newspapers and police as the "New York Necrophilia Rapist/Killer".
Breaking again into a young woman's apartment in order to satisfy his now out of control and inflamed libido Tony ends up getting caught when she escapes from his clutches. Running out of her apartment and into the hallway ,totally nude, the young woman together with a good neighbor, who gave her a robe to cover up, get a hold of a cop outside the building to arrest the murderous pervert. Chasing Tony up on the roof the cop pulls no punches ,as he pulls out his revolver, blasting Tony and causing him to fall some 20 floors to his death below.
Tony for his part was a very sick young man who desperately needed help to control and cure his uncontrollable and dangerous sexual desires. Unfortunately Tony didn't seek help and it was after he crossed that point of no return when he went from watching to murdering the women that turned him on that there was no help that society, other then long stretch behind bars or a cops bullet in his chest, could offer him.
It's always the ones you least suspect.
Hey_Sweden9 February 2016
Poor Tony (Bob Meyer). A lowly employee in a mannequin factory, he's shy, lonely, and awkward. His co-workers are able to gab about their sexual escapades, but not him. Completely inept around women, Tony resorts to a pretty drastic move. Then something is set off inside him, and he begins to strangle the voluptuous young beauties of Times Square.
This is one of the lesser movies to be found on Something Weird multi-movie sets, to be sure. Undemanding devotees of the sexploitation genre may find some appeal in ogling bare breasts for the better part of one hour, and not care whether there's an actual story or not. The girl watching can only do so much for a tale with no real style, a limited amount of depravity, and characters who are all ciphers.
The truth is that not very much ever happens in "The Sex Killer". Even though this thing runs a mere 56 minutes, there's notable padding, as we see Tony and others go through the motions at work, and as Tony spends ample time leering at topless rooftop sunbathers through his newly purchased binoculars.
"The Sex Killer" doesn't really have anything to distinguish it other than the spectacle of seeing Tony take a mannequin head on a DATE. The acting is actually fairly decent, especially from Meyer, and the persistent rock soundtrack is pretty groovy.
While this viewer commends those folks at Something Weird for unearthing as many trashy obscurities like this as possible, not all of them can be winners.
Five out of 10.
This is one of the lesser movies to be found on Something Weird multi-movie sets, to be sure. Undemanding devotees of the sexploitation genre may find some appeal in ogling bare breasts for the better part of one hour, and not care whether there's an actual story or not. The girl watching can only do so much for a tale with no real style, a limited amount of depravity, and characters who are all ciphers.
The truth is that not very much ever happens in "The Sex Killer". Even though this thing runs a mere 56 minutes, there's notable padding, as we see Tony and others go through the motions at work, and as Tony spends ample time leering at topless rooftop sunbathers through his newly purchased binoculars.
"The Sex Killer" doesn't really have anything to distinguish it other than the spectacle of seeing Tony take a mannequin head on a DATE. The acting is actually fairly decent, especially from Meyer, and the persistent rock soundtrack is pretty groovy.
While this viewer commends those folks at Something Weird for unearthing as many trashy obscurities like this as possible, not all of them can be winners.
Five out of 10.
gritty grindhouse fare
thomandybish30 March 2001
From the sick sixties comes this little film, concerning Tony, a frustrated loner who works in a mannequin factory and uses binoculars to spy on topless sunbathing women. To stave off his loneliness, Tony steals a mannequin head from a beauty salon and takes it to a bar. From there it's on to killing women and having sex(off screen)with their corpses. In between the various murders we're treated to various women lounging around topless and changing clothes, along with lingering, fetishistic shots of rows of naked mannequins in the factory. Of interest to students of grindhouse cinema and people who like their nudies gritty and grim.
Dull and sick
preppy-323 May 2007
Warning: Spoilers
Tony works in a mannequin factory in grimy NYC. He has this strange sexual attraction to the mannequins. One day he brings home a head from one of them. In his spare time he uses binoculars to spy on topless women sunbathing on the tops of buildings. Then he walks into womens apartments (in this universe no one locks their doors), kills them and has sex with their bodies (not shown). There's also a ton of pointless female nudity which has nothing to do with the plot.
There's nothing wrong with showing women dressing and undressing--this is an adult film after all and it has its audience. But when you throw in violence and necrophilia it gets pretty sick. Thankfully the killings themselves aren't that bad--only two are shown and they're just strangulations. That aside the film is painfully dull (I fast forwarded through most of it) and no reason is given for Tony's actions. There's very little dialogue and the guy who plays Tony actually isn't a bad actor. But this is a slow, sick and deadly dull movie. A 1 all the way.
There's nothing wrong with showing women dressing and undressing--this is an adult film after all and it has its audience. But when you throw in violence and necrophilia it gets pretty sick. Thankfully the killings themselves aren't that bad--only two are shown and they're just strangulations. That aside the film is painfully dull (I fast forwarded through most of it) and no reason is given for Tony's actions. There's very little dialogue and the guy who plays Tony actually isn't a bad actor. But this is a slow, sick and deadly dull movie. A 1 all the way.
"Sex" Killer? How about INSOMNIA killer?
wilburscott14 December 2004
This film is a real snooze, pretty much the empty filler between the more meaty movies on Something Weird's 3-movie DVD set on serial killers. I have seen a few Barry Mahon movies (probably the 'best' of which was "The Beast That Killed Women" and that's not saying much), and the man had no decent casts, no thrilling stories. He had flat-out NO discernible talent. Although his films were well shot, most of them require toothpicks to prop up the IL' eyelids in order to stay awake until the end. Terminally boring, although the film's one redeemable feature is the grimy NYC locations. Buyers of the DVD should just skip this one altogether.
Goo-Goo for those Mannequin Eyes.
suspiria1016 January 2005
The Sex Killer is a movie so daring and so shocking it dares to make it look like all the women in New York sunbathe topless in heels on top of the buildings. A peeping tom loner who listens to Mr. Happy searches the skyline for love and ekes out a living in a mannequin factory. Ah yes, this boys got issues. From slovenly caressing couches to romantic rendezvous' with bodiless plastic heads. The boy needs some loving and will stop at nothing to get it. The film is mercifully short and the occasional strangulation and bits of flesh keeps the film on track as our boy continually looks for love in all the wrong places. A laughable presentation that is mostly a harmless time passing oddity, you can't fault them they tried.
More enjoyably deviant 60's soft-core smut
Woodyanders16 September 2016
Warning: Spoilers
Awkward and unhinged loner Tony (a creepy and convincing portrayal by Bob Meyer) works at a mannequin factory. One day Tony decides to stop being a peeping tom and graduates to stalking women prior to strangling them and having sex with their corpses.
Director Barry Mahon keeps the deliciously depraved story moving along at a reasonable pace, makes fine use of various grimy New York City locations complete with choice footage of Times Square in all its awesomely seedy 60's glory, maintains a leering sleazy tone throughout, and, naturally, delivers oodles of tasty gratuitous distaff nudity. Toothsome blonde Uta Erickson acquits herself well (and bares her nice body) as a mean hooker while Bob Gran amuses as Tony's overbearing boss. Moreover, this movie offers a few inspired loopy moments, with Tony's ill-advised "date" with a mannequin head rating as a definite gut-busting highlight. The grainy cinematography provides a suitably scroungy look. Worth a watch for aficionados of tawdry adults only exploitation fare.
Director Barry Mahon keeps the deliciously depraved story moving along at a reasonable pace, makes fine use of various grimy New York City locations complete with choice footage of Times Square in all its awesomely seedy 60's glory, maintains a leering sleazy tone throughout, and, naturally, delivers oodles of tasty gratuitous distaff nudity. Toothsome blonde Uta Erickson acquits herself well (and bares her nice body) as a mean hooker while Bob Gran amuses as Tony's overbearing boss. Moreover, this movie offers a few inspired loopy moments, with Tony's ill-advised "date" with a mannequin head rating as a definite gut-busting highlight. The grainy cinematography provides a suitably scroungy look. Worth a watch for aficionados of tawdry adults only exploitation fare.
TheSexKiller
gavcrimson5 September 2020
Some vintage smut peddling from prolific T&A king Barry Mahon. One of many, assembly line productions Mahon made around Times Square in the 1960s. The Sex Killer arguably paved the way for much NYC sleaze to come, be it Headless Eyes, Forced Entry, Sex Wish or Maniac, with this tale of Tony (Bob Meyer) a maladjusted loner who works in a mannequin factory and soon graduates from peeking at girls through binoculars to becoming smitten with a mannequin's head to strangulation and (offscreen) necrophilia. "He balls her after she'd dead...at least she's still warm" quips one of Tony's callous workmates. Mahon's notourous indifference towards filmmaking is all present and correct, so what if dem broads can't act...if the camera jitters wildly during the scene set on a NYC subway train or whether machinery drowns out dialogue at the mannequin factory ...as long as there was film in the camera Mahon didn't seem to care less. If you wanted to get all chin strokery about The Sex Killer, it could be argued that setting the film at a mannequin factory- with Tony's chauvinistic workmates lumbering around the factory floor all day with female torsos -was some kind of commentary on the commercialisation of women's bodies...then again maybe it was just cheap for Mahon to film in there. Mahon was at least savvy enough to realise that the real star of his film was Dirty o'l New York itself, and The Sex Killer doubles as a travelogue of the mean streets that Mahon knew well...on rare occasions he even manages to film them in focus too.
Strange entry from the world of Adults Only cinema.
reptilicus31 March 2003
Mention the name "Barry Mahon" to film buffs and most of the time you will get a blank stare. Students of the Adults Only subgenre might bring up THE BEAST THAT KILLED WOMEN and hopefully soon people will be discussing THE DEAD ONE, a serious terror thriller that has just been rediscovered. Barry is also responsible for this film, a moody black and white drama that had a lot of potential which went unrealised. The plot (oh yes there's a plot) centers on Tony, a quiet guy who works in a warehouse that makes mannequins for department stores. Tony appears to be a shy fellow who seldom says three complete sentences in a whole day and lives a Spartan existence in his barely furnished apartment. One day Tony asks his boss if he can take a mannequin home. When he is turned down Tony "borrows" a head and actually takes it on a date! He takes it to a bar and talks to it while the bartender looks on and shakes his head. (The bar, like all other locations in this film, is a real one and that was probably the real bartender playing himself. The look on his face is meant to apply to Tony, the character in the film but you can imagine he was watching the scene being filmed and thought "The things some guys will do for a job.") Tiring of his bodiless date Tony buys some binoculars and sneaks into a high rise apartment to spy on women sunbathing topless on the roofs of the walkup apartments nearby. This is an interesting look at how much easier life was when this was filmed. The apartment we see has no doorman and it is relatively easy for Tony to sneak in a side door and go up to the roof. In fact he does it several times in the movie and is never stopped even once! This is where Mr. Mahon separates us from reality a little too well. Reel-istically all of the women Tony spies on are attractive but notice how the camera angle changes frequently as he spies on them. We are supposed to see what Tony is seeing through his binoculars, so how can the angle of his vision keep changing? Just keep saying "It's only a movie." Even spying is not enough after a while and Tony starts stalking the women he spies on and strangles them to death. Of course since he never bothers to cover his tracks it is only a matter of time (and not much time either, this movie runs less than one hour) before Tony comes to the end of the road. You can see that for yourself though; I won't spoil the end for you. I wondered how this movie would have looked had it been done without dialogue (qv., DEMENTIA (a/k/a DAUGHTER OF HORROR)). The dialogue really adds nothing to the plot except something to laugh at; it is the visuals that hold our interest. Not a classic, but not wholly unwatchable either. The nudity and violence blend into the plot well and even the abrupt ending does not seem to be contrived. Nicely done, but not the sort of movie you can watch over and over.
Rough in a good way
BandSAboutMovies28 March 2021
Warning: Spoilers
This is the definition of scuzz: Barry Mahon did not put his name on this movie.
Tony works in a mannequin factory and can't connect with anyone, despite people trying to include him. Instead, he spies on sunbathing women with binoculars until he's finally motivated enough to murder them, which the stuttery black and white camera of Mahon documents without any viscera, just an oddball not from this dimension detachment.
Of course, once he takes home the heads of one of the mannequins that he's made, Tony feels a bit better about life. I mean, he's still a killer and a necrophile. But isn't it nice that he finally has someone who can understand him?
Made a year before other NYC-based scumtastic murder films like Anton Holden's Aroused, eight years before Shaun Costello's Forced Entry and more than a decade ahead of William Lustig's Maniac - which also has plenty of mannequin-related mania - this movie has no aspirations of being art, yet succeeds in spite of itself. While Mahon can barely focus his camera at times, he somehow made something captivatingly creepy.
The weirdest thing is there's barely any upsetting violence and no graphic sexual content, but the whole thing feels like the grossest, greasiest, sweatiest nightmare movie. And that, my friends, is the magic of Barry Mahon. You write him off and then he smacks you right in the face with something memorable.
Tony works in a mannequin factory and can't connect with anyone, despite people trying to include him. Instead, he spies on sunbathing women with binoculars until he's finally motivated enough to murder them, which the stuttery black and white camera of Mahon documents without any viscera, just an oddball not from this dimension detachment.
Of course, once he takes home the heads of one of the mannequins that he's made, Tony feels a bit better about life. I mean, he's still a killer and a necrophile. But isn't it nice that he finally has someone who can understand him?
Made a year before other NYC-based scumtastic murder films like Anton Holden's Aroused, eight years before Shaun Costello's Forced Entry and more than a decade ahead of William Lustig's Maniac - which also has plenty of mannequin-related mania - this movie has no aspirations of being art, yet succeeds in spite of itself. While Mahon can barely focus his camera at times, he somehow made something captivatingly creepy.
The weirdest thing is there's barely any upsetting violence and no graphic sexual content, but the whole thing feels like the grossest, greasiest, sweatiest nightmare movie. And that, my friends, is the magic of Barry Mahon. You write him off and then he smacks you right in the face with something memorable.
Nudity, Nudity and a Killer
Michael_Elliott25 November 2006
SEX KILLER, THE (1967)
*** (out of four)
After a successful date with a mannequin head, the shy and lonely Tony decides to move towards the real thing. After being rejected by several women, he starts stalking the streets of Manhattan strangling women and then humping them. This early shocker is actually very well made and the acting isn't too bad. There isn't too much dialogue, which is good thing, but there are plenty of naked women and a nice music score. Something Weird Video has been a haven full of weird, sex films like this one but this here is one of the best out there. Running under an hour, the film gets right to the point and keeps the viewer entertained throughout.
*** (out of four)
After a successful date with a mannequin head, the shy and lonely Tony decides to move towards the real thing. After being rejected by several women, he starts stalking the streets of Manhattan strangling women and then humping them. This early shocker is actually very well made and the acting isn't too bad. There isn't too much dialogue, which is good thing, but there are plenty of naked women and a nice music score. Something Weird Video has been a haven full of weird, sex films like this one but this here is one of the best out there. Running under an hour, the film gets right to the point and keeps the viewer entertained throughout.
"Are You Kidding?! You Must Be Some Kind Of Nut!"...
azathothpwiggins6 June 2021
Warning: Spoilers
THE SEX KILLER is an extremely low budget, black and white film.
Tony (Bob Meyer) works at a mannequin factory. He's just purchased a pair of binoculars for his "bird watching" hobby. Of course, Tony's interested in a certain type of "bird", of the non-feathered, topless, sunbathing variety.
Tony gets in trouble at work for showing a bit too much interest in the inventory. Undeterred, he steals a mannequin head and takes it out on the town. People around Tony and his "date" seem concerned. The "couple" is a big hit on the subway! Back at his dingy, tenement apartment, love is in the air, along with whatever other odors are wafting around.
Thankfully, Tony soon returns to his more wholesome sunbather stalking.
Wow! Those are some powerful binoculars!
After a dismal encounter with a prostitute, Tony sets out to kill the unwary women in the neighborhood, thereby finding... satisfaction. Will no one stop this mannequin molesting madman?
True to its shabby sub-sub-genre, this movie is mostly an excuse to show scantily-clad females. There's also the occasional topless gal- shown from a safe distance. While it has more of a plot than others of its ilk, it's not overly enthralling. To its credit, it does play as a sort of forerunner to the Joe Spinell classic, MANIAC from the 1980's...
Tony (Bob Meyer) works at a mannequin factory. He's just purchased a pair of binoculars for his "bird watching" hobby. Of course, Tony's interested in a certain type of "bird", of the non-feathered, topless, sunbathing variety.
Tony gets in trouble at work for showing a bit too much interest in the inventory. Undeterred, he steals a mannequin head and takes it out on the town. People around Tony and his "date" seem concerned. The "couple" is a big hit on the subway! Back at his dingy, tenement apartment, love is in the air, along with whatever other odors are wafting around.
Thankfully, Tony soon returns to his more wholesome sunbather stalking.
Wow! Those are some powerful binoculars!
After a dismal encounter with a prostitute, Tony sets out to kill the unwary women in the neighborhood, thereby finding... satisfaction. Will no one stop this mannequin molesting madman?
True to its shabby sub-sub-genre, this movie is mostly an excuse to show scantily-clad females. There's also the occasional topless gal- shown from a safe distance. While it has more of a plot than others of its ilk, it's not overly enthralling. To its credit, it does play as a sort of forerunner to the Joe Spinell classic, MANIAC from the 1980's...
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