"City in Panic" is one of the most obscure and unknown slashers of the 80s decade, but make no mistake, it's obscure and unknown for a good reason and it's not at all a hidden gem! The plot most certainly has potential, as it touches upon relevant and sensitive social themes, but the execution is so pathetic and miserably poor it makes your eyes and ears hurt.
The city of Toronto is plagued by a sadist serial killer who targets homosexual men, or perhaps just people with AIDS, and nastily carves the letter "M" in the victims' bodies with a sharp knife. The police are as incompetent as they are terrible at acting, and an incredibly annoying radio host commences to provoke the killer live in his late-night talk show.
The film might be dreadful, but it must be said: the murders are vile, sick, and extremely gore! The first kill is almost an exact copy of the infamous shower sequence in "Psycho", and the homophobic slasher subsequently also drives over a male stripper, cuts up an upside-down macho in the gym, and - top of the bill - mercilessly castrates a security guard through a glory hole! That was fantastic and deserves an extra rating point, as far as I'm concerned. The script also has the decency to refer to Fritz Lang's milestone "M" and features a character that is named "Dr. Farthing". I'm not kidding.