What a mess this one is! This South African production appears to be two movies put together with only the relation to the "Demon" connecting both the stories. The first part of the film concerns the family of Emily Parker who was kidnapped during an evening home invasion by a tall man that may or may not wear a mask and may or may not have gloves with blades sewn onto the ends of the fingertips even though he chooses to strangle his victims anyway. Confused yet? Yeah, this is a real doozy. Anyway, the Parkers enlist the aid of Col. Bill Carson (B-movie royalty Cameron Mitchell slumming for a paycheck so he can afford some Capetown prostitutes one would guess) a former Marine with ESP who can pick up the "vibes as the kids like to say" of the crime. This begins Col. Carson's bizarre trances and seemingly useless psychic drivel, "he's less than a man, yet more than one - much more". Thanks, that really helps. At one point Carson has a creepy extrasensory wet dream in Emily's room complete with tearing pieces of her clothing and sniffing them while sweating profusely. Luckily he didn't find her panty drawer. Mrs. Parker becomes apprehensive when Carson turns up no leads as her husband seems more concerned with catching the kidnapper rather than finding his daughter. Mr. Parker pursues the killer to his apartment thanks to a vision Carson had and is promptly dispatched by the hulking madman. When Carson returns to the Parker residence to speak with the newly widowed Mrs. Parker he is shot in the head for no reason whatsoever. You trusted a psychic instead of the police, what the hell did you expect? Maybe, I dunno, you're fired? Thus ends the Col. Carson/Parker storyline with about a half hour to go.
The bulk of the movie centers on Mary, an American teacher that is being followed a la Halloween by the Demon/Strangler/badguy whatever. Mary works with her eighteen year old cousin Jo who speaks curiously with a South Afrikan accent. Jo is dating some rich American playboy which is useless to the plot yet gets a stunning amount of screen time instead of establishing why the killer has targeted Mary and what motivates him to murder various customers of the town's redlight district. I appreciate the fact that the various nude scenes placed throughout the film were added strictly for the American version as both ladies' extended nude scenes broke up the monotony of the bloodless murders and boring date footage (What, no mini golf scene?). It doesn't matter as all the attention paid to Jo's courtship are dashed when she's murdered anyway along with her new boyfriend. Mary is a little clueless as well. If some beast of a man was stalking you would you fling the front door open in the middle of the night at the slightest knock? Mary does quite frequently. The finale features the Demon sometimes in a mask and sometimes not toying with Mary suddenly when he killed every other victim quickly allowing her to escape through the house wearing just her panties. Can't say I'm complaining but I'm just a lowbrow American. (Smiling wryly)
The editing is so disjointed that it's hard to get your bearings while watching this train wreck. Scenes such as the waves crashing into the shoreline rocks appear here and there for no explicable reason that I could see. At one point two boys playing soldier stumble upon a skeleton in a tree with a blonde wig on it. Who the hell is that supposed to be? There is no insight into the Demon as well. Was he really a supernatural force or just some psycho that grunted and growled a lot? The movie never gives a clear answer. Cameron Mitchell's gonzo performance is one of the only saving graces of this movie. He's just so over the top with his psychic theatrics. Hope that check didn't bounce Cam. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to this disco that's right up my alley.
The bulk of the movie centers on Mary, an American teacher that is being followed a la Halloween by the Demon/Strangler/badguy whatever. Mary works with her eighteen year old cousin Jo who speaks curiously with a South Afrikan accent. Jo is dating some rich American playboy which is useless to the plot yet gets a stunning amount of screen time instead of establishing why the killer has targeted Mary and what motivates him to murder various customers of the town's redlight district. I appreciate the fact that the various nude scenes placed throughout the film were added strictly for the American version as both ladies' extended nude scenes broke up the monotony of the bloodless murders and boring date footage (What, no mini golf scene?). It doesn't matter as all the attention paid to Jo's courtship are dashed when she's murdered anyway along with her new boyfriend. Mary is a little clueless as well. If some beast of a man was stalking you would you fling the front door open in the middle of the night at the slightest knock? Mary does quite frequently. The finale features the Demon sometimes in a mask and sometimes not toying with Mary suddenly when he killed every other victim quickly allowing her to escape through the house wearing just her panties. Can't say I'm complaining but I'm just a lowbrow American. (Smiling wryly)
The editing is so disjointed that it's hard to get your bearings while watching this train wreck. Scenes such as the waves crashing into the shoreline rocks appear here and there for no explicable reason that I could see. At one point two boys playing soldier stumble upon a skeleton in a tree with a blonde wig on it. Who the hell is that supposed to be? There is no insight into the Demon as well. Was he really a supernatural force or just some psycho that grunted and growled a lot? The movie never gives a clear answer. Cameron Mitchell's gonzo performance is one of the only saving graces of this movie. He's just so over the top with his psychic theatrics. Hope that check didn't bounce Cam. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to this disco that's right up my alley.