A detective teams up with a talk-show host to take down a homophobic serial killer on the streets of Toronto.A detective teams up with a talk-show host to take down a homophobic serial killer on the streets of Toronto.A detective teams up with a talk-show host to take down a homophobic serial killer on the streets of Toronto.
David Christopher Adamson
- Dave Miller
- (as David Adamson)
Lee Ann Nestegard
- Elizabeth Price
- (as Leeann Nestegard)
Edward Chester
- Barry McKee
- (as Ed Chester)
Susan Hamann
- Del
- (as Suzy Hamann)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaInspired by the real life murders of 14 gay men in the Toronto area in the mid-to-late 1970's, believed to be the work of a serial killer. Most of the victims were stabbed to death and frequented the same bar, the St. Charles Tavern on Yonge Street. None of the victims were reported as being HIV+, however. The murders were never solved.
- ConnectionsReferences M (1931)
Featured review
City In Panic
City in Panic
We first get introduced to a major city (similar to Toronto in Canada), where a gay man man exits a bath house. An unseen assailant follows him home to his downtown apartment and slaughters him in the shower, very 'Psycho' like. After that we hear the voice of a radio host named Dave who rivals another radio host named Alex Ramsey. He talks about the serial killer who goes by the name of "M" that has been wandering around the city murdering men. The reason for the name "M" is that the stalker slashes that letter into the skin of each victim.
The killer then attacks a male stripper by running him over violently with a car and then stabbing over a dozen times. After that, the film starts up the feud of Dave versus Alex in their radio feud. The entire film we get the narration from Dave Miller and how his main goal was to reassure the public instead of instil fear into them. After a series of more vicious killings, the police realize that "M" is targeting people who have AIDS and are being sexually active without safety. "M' believes that they are saving society and doing heroic work. Can the person be stopped?
I enjoyed a lot of what City in Panic gave the viewers. There was this creepy stalker attacking citizens from the city of Toronto (my hometown) in very gruesome ways. I caught a ton of filming locations such as the Gooderham Building, the Oak Leaf steam baths on Bathurst street, and the overall skyline of the city shown constantly. It's always fun for me to notice those kinds of things since I live in the city. The Toronto AIDS pandemic of the 80's played a big part in the story here, as mostly all of the victims who were killed in this one were gay men. The idea of having the victims be men was an interesting concept for an 80's horror film
All in all, City in Panic was avery enjoyable and low budget slasher from the mid-80's. One of the murders as extremely gruesome in thought was a security guard who decides to use the "glory hole" in a public washroom and ends up having his "you know what" cut off. Pretty horrific for a Canadian low budget film, I found the whole thing pretty well done.
6/10.
We first get introduced to a major city (similar to Toronto in Canada), where a gay man man exits a bath house. An unseen assailant follows him home to his downtown apartment and slaughters him in the shower, very 'Psycho' like. After that we hear the voice of a radio host named Dave who rivals another radio host named Alex Ramsey. He talks about the serial killer who goes by the name of "M" that has been wandering around the city murdering men. The reason for the name "M" is that the stalker slashes that letter into the skin of each victim.
The killer then attacks a male stripper by running him over violently with a car and then stabbing over a dozen times. After that, the film starts up the feud of Dave versus Alex in their radio feud. The entire film we get the narration from Dave Miller and how his main goal was to reassure the public instead of instil fear into them. After a series of more vicious killings, the police realize that "M" is targeting people who have AIDS and are being sexually active without safety. "M' believes that they are saving society and doing heroic work. Can the person be stopped?
I enjoyed a lot of what City in Panic gave the viewers. There was this creepy stalker attacking citizens from the city of Toronto (my hometown) in very gruesome ways. I caught a ton of filming locations such as the Gooderham Building, the Oak Leaf steam baths on Bathurst street, and the overall skyline of the city shown constantly. It's always fun for me to notice those kinds of things since I live in the city. The Toronto AIDS pandemic of the 80's played a big part in the story here, as mostly all of the victims who were killed in this one were gay men. The idea of having the victims be men was an interesting concept for an 80's horror film
All in all, City in Panic was avery enjoyable and low budget slasher from the mid-80's. One of the murders as extremely gruesome in thought was a security guard who decides to use the "glory hole" in a public washroom and ends up having his "you know what" cut off. Pretty horrific for a Canadian low budget film, I found the whole thing pretty well done.
6/10.
helpful•10
- HorrorFan1984
- Aug 29, 2021
Details
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content