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Jonathan (Pierre Agostini) has a problem with women since finding out
his ex was a prostitute. So he poses as a photographer, contacts nude
models (= hookers), waits till they make a pass on him, and then strangles
them - which makes him the Hollywood Strangler. But he longs for a woman
who is different, and he thinks he has found her in the buttoned up owner
of a book store (Carolyn Brandt), so he starts following her around, and
when he eventually finds out that she, as a pastime, slashes the throats
of winos, he falls in love with her ... but for the most time, he is far
too timid to even address her, and he starts freaking her out because he
repeatedly shows up in her store but then leaves without uttering as much
as a word. Finally though, he finds the guts to ask her out, but then,
in her store, Jonathan's sick anhd twisted mind tells him that she is just
like all the others and he has to kill her - but as he strangles her, she
pulls out her knife and stabs him ... and he can hold on to his life just
long enough to choke her until she's dead. Made on an ultra-low
budget and without live-sound - director Steckler actually wanted to do a
silent film and added some overdubs only after his distributors requested
it -, this is in equal parts a twisted love story, the journey into the
mixed up mind of a madman (a bit resembling the classic Peeping Tom
on more levels than one), and an unrelenting kill-fest ... but what the
film actually is, is a rather accurate portrayal of the seedy parts of
Hollywood, with most of the footage being shot on location, presumably
using a hidden camera, and it stands to reason that at least some of the nude
models the Strangler kills were just that in real life too. All that
said though, the film is by far not the low-budget wonder it should/could
have been, it simply runs way too long (even at 72 minutes) and is way too
repetitive to really convince. By the way: One of the film's
scenes, an orgy scene, was shot in Plato's Retreat West, a
legendary swinger club in which Steckler shot some of his porn features
(including one carrying the club's name in its title - click
here). And just like in his porn movies, this orgy scene involves
roller skates.
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