The Single Girls (1973) User Reviews

Intimacy Issues on a Tropical Island

[Uriah43 · 5/10 · 22 April 2016]

"Dr. Phillip Stevens" (Wayne C. Dvorak) is a psychiatrist who has set up a private practice on a tropical island and caters to singles who are experiencing intimacy issues. His therapy mainly involves things like group encounter sessions, sensitivity training and a host of other new-age techniques which implicitly encourage public or private encounters of a sexual nature. What he doesn't count on is the patronage of a psychotic killer who hunts down his guests one by one. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this had a couple of good things going for it. First, it had some attractive actresses in Claudia Jennings (as "Allison") and to a lesser extent Jean Marie Ingels ("Phyllis") which the directors (Beverly and Fred Sebastian) made sure to give ample coverage. Likewise, they also managed to maintain the mystery until the very end which seems to be a lost science in many of the films of today. On the other hand, I thought some of the scenes could have used more suspense and the script needed a bit more attention as well. Additionally, both the beautiful tropical scenery and the talents of Robyn Hilton ("Denise") were essentially wasted for the most part. In any case, while this wasn't a bad movie by any means, it could have been better and I have rated it accordingly. Average.

Too much talk, not enough stalk (and slash).

[BA_Harrison · 3/10 · 19 December 2018]

A group of men and women travel to an island retreat where Dr. Phillip Stevens (Wayne C. Dvorak) helps them to expand their sexual awareness by discussing their needs, getting them to fondle each other in the dark, and walk around blind-folded. One visitor in particular is in need of some serious therapy: they're sneaking around the island bumping off the women (all of whom are, rather unbelievably, absolute babes).

Opening with a murder - the harpooning of a young woman - by an unseen killer, Bloody Friday (AKA The Single Girls) looks set to be a fun photo-slasher, perhaps inspired by the success of the Italian giallo genre; instead, it winds up being a rather tedious slice of highly dated hippie nonsense that focuses more on the characters' relationships than on their untimely demises.

The first half an hour is particularly wearisome, with lots of dull chit-chat, weird group sessions, and belly dancing. The film eventually picks up a bit with some gratuitous nudity from most of the women and a couple more murders (although they are frustratingly tame in terms of bloodletting), but the film as a whole is an unremarkable and instantly forgettable drive-in flick, one that even slasher completists and fans of exploitation babe Claudia Jennings (who plays 'final girl' Allison) might struggle to sit through.

A stinker

[Leofwine_draca · 3/10 · 13 December 2018]

I caught this on Amazon Prime under the title BLOODY FRIDAY, but it's a stinker whichever way you look at it. The setting is an exotic island, where a bunch of youthful characters have travelled to a hippy-style retreat in order to get to grips with their sexuality (and each other). A series of brutal murders breaks out and the culprit must be uncovered. You can tell this is the kind of film which wants to be a murder mystery combined with a classy giallo flavour from Italy, but it's pure exploitation. The unfamiliar cast give uninteresting performances and the script is banal beyond belief. The murders themselves are choppy and non-graphic, so literally the only thing this film has to offer is some brief nudity from willing starlets. Skip it.

Not half bad attempt at sexually liberation slasher mystery!

[ES-III · 30 May 2003]

Possible spoilers ahead: `Bloody Friday' (or `The Single Girls,' if you prefer) was somewhat ahead of its time. An odd little iconoclastic film, it combines the whodunit of Agatha Christie's `Ten Little Indians' (directed by George Pollock in 1965), the sexual liberation slant and anti-conservatism spirit of Ted Post's `The Harrad Experiment' (1973), and the slasher films that followed and soon dominated the horror genre. One wekend, an eclectic collection of men and women travel to a remote Caribbean island resort where Dr. Phillip Stevens (Wayne Dvorak) administers a sexually-liberating form of psychotherapy that involves behaviorism exercises and sensitivity training with members of the opposite sex. Unfortunately, this call to growth and awareness unleashes a new recognition in one of our travelers, which leads to a killing spree. It's pretty easy to spot the murderer, though directors Beverly and Ferd Sebastian pepper the story with subtle allusions to other members. The whole film is dimly lit (except the outdoor scenes) with jumpy editing and groovy music, but some handheld camera angles and point-of-view shots keep things interesting. Also, in the greenhouse scene, which is filled with poinsettias, the Sebastians create a visually appealing scene reminiscent of something a budding Dario Argento might have tried. The cave scene, on the other hand, tosses out some phony bats that flap around like wet garbage bags! 1970 Playmate of the Year Claudia Jennings is great, remindful of a young Bridget Fonda, and may have had a long film career had she not been killed in 1979. Likewise, the plastic-looking Cheri Howell is also good as Shannon, though she never appeared in much outside of this film, save `Sisters of Death' (1978), which also starred Jennings, and `Soylent Green' (1973). She almost looks like a Russ Meyer version of Penthouse Pet Aria Giovanni. Joan Prather, who would later join the cast of `Eight Is Enough' as Janet Bradford, makes a decent film debut here too as Lola, the girl with rape fantasies. All three get briefly naked at one point or another. Playboy Miss December 1972, Mercy Rooney, who wore wool chaps and stood in front of a chair made out of horns in her centerfold, appears for a brief moment in the film's intro, only to be shot with a crossbow (predating the kill the star in the opening sequence of `Scream'). On top of all that, the supporting cast is nothing to scoff at either! Horror-film vets Victor Izay ("The Astro-Zombies") and Greg Mullavy (`Vultures,' `I Dismembered Mama') are featured, as is Albert Popwell who starred in several of the Dirty Harry movies with Clint Eastwood and was well-known as one of the Johnson brothers in the "Cleopatra Jones" series. It's a film worth noting for its time and stimulus - a slasher film for fans of Robert Rimmer's sexual awareness manifesto of the '60s!

dumb Friday

[trashgang · 2/10 · 8 February 2009]

friends advised me to catch a copy of this flick. ?Not that easy because it's an OOP. Anyway, I caught my a copy and looking at the cover I thought that it would be a nice movie a real exploitation one, and the title says it all, bloody. Well, don't believe the hype. It's only 83 minutes of your time waisting and maybe there is 1 minute of blood, and that's laughable too. The killings are the worst I ever seen, it's unbelievable that so much fuzz has been written about this flick. Let's say that they are talking a lot and keep on talking and talking, nothing really happens except now and then the usuall T&A but it doesn't lift the movie as watchable. Again, the cover made you think you will catch a OOPgem but it wasn't the truth. I have seen a lot of trash, this a real trash, don't waist your time.

A nifty 70's exploitation movie variant on "Ten Little Indians"

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 30 August 2009]

A motley bunch of folks suffering from various hang-ups gather together on a lush Caribbean island to let it all hang out and make out with each other. Unfortunately, there's a vicious psycho wacko on the loose who puts the kibosh on everyone's fun. Directors Ferd and Beverly Sebastian, working from a blithely silly script by Ann Cawthorne and William Kervin, relate the engrossing story at a steady pace, milk the premise for a fair amount of tension, and stage the murder set pieces with a reasonable amount of brio (the killing in a greenhouse is especially memorable). This film further benefits from solid acting by an attractive and appealing cast: the ever-radiant Claudia Jennings as sweet nurse Allison, Cheri Howell as saucy and enticing vamp Shannon, Greg Mullavey as stuttering bespectacled nerd George, Joan Prather as demure, yet kinky and eager virgin Lola, Jason Ledger as studly country boy Blue, Wayne Dvorek as charming self-help guru Dr. Stevens, Jean Marie Ingels as the snippy Phyllis, Victor Izay as lonely middle-aged dweeb Andrew, and Robyn Hilton as ditsy airhead Denise. The incredibly groovy theme "Ms. America" hits the smooth-rockin' spot. Ferd Sebastian's pretty cinematography makes the tropical scenery look almost as beautiful as the ladies. With a moderate smattering of bare distaff skin, strictly mild violence, and a handy helping of endearingly dippy Me Decade philosophical New Age hogwash (you just gotta dig the special touching in the dark encounter session!), this movie proves to be a surprisingly good-natured and even quite innocuous romp. Enjoyable grindhouse fare.

Just enjoy the ride

[lazarillo · 27 June 2007]

This is a pretty decent little film, kind of a modern-day adaptation of Agatha Christie's "Ten Little Indians", or an early, more adult version of a teen slasher movie. It has a great island setting and a plethora of deserving victims in a group of 70's swingers who have gotten together on this remote island for an "encounter" session (no one will miss these kind of people and they certainly aren't going to miss each other when they start being picked off by the deranged killer). There are, however, several likable characters among the victims. Claudia Jennings plays a liberated young women who has accompanied a friend to the island after having been surprised by her boyfriend's sudden proposal of marriage. The boyfriend shows up too, and he seems to be a pretty decent guy--even if he might be the killer. There's also the beautiful nympho roommate, and a virgin (Joan Prather) eager to lose her virginity.

It's nice to see Claudia Jennnings playing against type in an unusually demure role. Joan Prather, later on TV's "Eight is Enough", also goes against her usual grain as the randy virgin, and she has some very uncharacteristic nude scenes. And as for former Playboy Playmate Jennings, well, does a bear get naked in the woods?

Some people, especially, at the time would probably consider the end pretty conservative. But what is so bad or reactionary about finding marriage preferable to 70's-style swinging-single hedonism? Basically though, I wouldn't look for messages in Beverly and Ferdinand Sebastian's movies (they definitely don't come off as reactionaries in films like "The Hitchhikers", which apologized for the Manson family, or "Gator Bait" which countered the inbred Southern hick stereotypes of "Deliverance"). With the Sebastians, and their frequent and very sexy star Jennings, it's best to just sit back and enjoy the ride.