Freaktana A Major Disappointment

ChanFamous I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Bluebell Alcock Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

Jerrie It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Scott LeBrun "Schizoid" is a so-so stalk 'n' slash 80s thriller with a cast of familiar faces but not much to really recommend it. As a mystery it doesn't exactly work; despite the presence of red herrings, most people will figure out who the killer is early on. The kill scenes have no flair, and slasher lovers will be disappointed with the almost complete absence of gore, even though the murder weapon is a pair of scissors. As for female flesh, the ever lovely Donna Wilkes (of "Angel" fame) does give us - and her leering father - a little bit of a look at the goods. The dialogue, courtesy of writer / director David Paulsen ("Savage Weekend") is downright silly at times, but the cast does whatever it can with the material.The pretty Mariana Hill ("High Plains Drifter") stars as Julie, an advice columnist who is receiving threatening letters from some unbalanced individual. At the same time, members of her therapy group are being knocked off. Who could the maniac be? Pieter Fales (Klaus Kinski), the sleazy psychiatrist moderating the group who has a habit of fooling around with his female patients? Doug (Craig Wasson, "Ghost Story"), Julie's soon-to-be ex-husband who doesn't want to divorce? Pieters' daughter Alison (Wilkes), an angry young woman who resents the presence of Julie in her fathers' life? Or off-putting, lonely maintenance man Gilbert (Christopher Lloyd)? The two detectives on the case (Richard Herd of "Trancers" and Joe Regalbuto of 'Murphy Brown') don't take Julie seriously at first but eventually come around.Also featuring Flo Lawrence ("Don't Answer the Phone!") and Fredric Cook ("Jackson County Jail"), this just isn't as much fun as the viewer might wish. It's trashy enough to keep it amusing and watchable. A glum looking Kinski is interesting to watch, as always. Hill and Wasson are likable, but Wasson has what is one of the dumbest moments in the film regarding Dougs' reaction to one of the letters. Wilkes is a delight as the somewhat disturbed daughter. Lloyd is good as he underplays his role. Herd is clearly just picking up a paycheck. Everything climaxes in an awkward sequence in which all of the suspects show up in one location. Perhaps the most egregious element of "Schizoid" is the awful - albeit sometimes amusingly awful - music score by Craig Hundley, who did much better work for "Alligator" the same year.Dedicated completists of 80s slasher cinema will want to see this, for sure, but they're advised simply to just keep those expectations low and they might have a reasonably good time.Five out of 10.

Andres Rais I don't know what is worse about this movie. 1) It is very predictable. 2) It is very stupid. Is it 1 or 2? I was bothered because I spent 89 minutes with this movie and I considered it was a waste of time. The premise of a murderer with scissors looked good but there is not a pinch of idea in it. Dr Fales (Kinski) is a psychiatrist who leads a group of therapy. His daughter Allison (Wilkes) is a rebel teenager who is against the doctor's new company Julie (Hill). Allison's mother died and Julie would take her place. So, she is sick 'n tired of the group and of Julie. What about her? She is a reporter who is in the way of getting the divorce from her husband Doug (Wasson). There is more: she helps people under the name of Dr. Love. She starts receiving threats by letter. The ladies from the group are being found stabbed one by one. "Don't let me kill again" blah, blah, blah. So, who are we dealing with? who is the killer? Could it be Dr. Fales who has sex with the ladies from the therapy group? Maybe his daughter? What about Julie's husband? I think that renting this movie would be a waste of movie. It is worse If you see it. A waste of time. At least performances were acceptable. 3 out of 10. Andrés.

Bzsmrtna The movie is unequivocally terrible. However, I enjoyed watching Kinski nonetheless. Then again, I always do, regardless of the quality of the movie. That's probably just a personal bias. Watch for the scene in which he runs around wielding a hammer. It was a hoot!

cOOtje-3 While watching this one, I kept thinking about that anecdote Claudia Cardinale recalls in Herzog's documentary about Kinski. They were doing a love-scene together (she claims he was nice, humble and respectful towards her) and all of the sudden, Herzog brought in an ocelot. Kinski freaked out, as good as slaughtered the poor animal (endangered species!!!), and refused to work again for the whole day. "He was such a nice man", she then goes on. And I'm sure his daughter has similar tales of warmth and paternal joy to tell. What's the point I'm getting to, It's clear what Kinski is doing in this film: his character is allowed to gratuitously bonk every single women in the film, even ogle his own naked daughter and beat up a few others. It must have been a relief for such an intense person to not have to act. And still he is able to sleepwalk through this lame excuse for a slasher movie.It isn't even funny (except for that bathtub-scene, where the director must have suddenly realized he was going to miss out on a screaming face unless he came up with something -you'll never believe that one-). I watched it in fast-forward, and those were a long fifteen minutes. Avoid if you can, sleep through it if you must.