Night of the Strangler

Director - Joy N. Houk Jr. (Creature from Black Lake)
Starring - Micky Dolenz (Rob Zombie's Halloween), James Ralston (The Terminator), and Michael Anthony (Hill Street Blues)
Release Date - 1972
Genre - Drama/Thriller
Tagline - "Southern revenge"
Format - DVD (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     Horror has always been my favorite genre.  Sure, I grew up watching programs made for children but by 4th grade horror had taken over and I never looked back.  One genre, or sub-genre depending on how you want to look at it, that I typically did not like but most horror fans did was the thriller genre.  These films put way too much thought into the story itself and not enough attention went into their execution which resulted in key scenes getting edited to the point they are no longer key scenes and so forth.  To me, they all just felt like they wanted to be mind fucks but without the means.  Anyway, recently Vinegar Syndrome sent me the 1972 drama/thriller Night of the Strangler to check out.  I was curious to see what it was about especially since the title and cover art gave me that slasher vibe.  Thanks Vin Syn for sending this one my way.  

     The story begins with a brother sister pair arriving to visit their older brother.  The younger sister spills the beans that she is pregnant and her big brother becomes irate and starts rambling about how she will ruin their good name.  She interrupts him and tells him that the father is black.  He strikes his littler sister and she rushes back home to be with her man.  Later the older brother hires someone to kill the black man and then drown his sister and unborn child in the tub and make it look like a suicide.  He does not tell his younger brother about this and her death destroys him.  Not long after her murder, her older brother is married and on their wedding night a snake bites and kills her when it comes out of a vase of flowers.  The older brother is convinced that it is his younger brother trying to kill him now and the two are no longer on speaking terms but the real killer soon shows his face and it is not who you are expecting.

     Before I go any further I have to admit that I enjoyed the film for what it was which is a drama film that flirts with being a mystery thriller that fully submerges itself in the "who done it" sub-genre but that was not what I was expecting when I first found the release.  Like I said earlier, I was expecting a sleazy slasher flick only to find a drama following the social turmoil of the times.  The acting in this one is great by the entire cast with Micky Dolenz stealing the show.  He is the center of every scene he is in and really makes the film as fun as it is.  The story for this one is your typical who done it mystery that really does throw a curve ball at the viewer when the killer is revealed.  The film also tosses in a great deal of social and political topics of the time that has ironically became the same topics that are greatly being debated today with race wars and social prejudice.  This film is just as relevant now as it was in 1972.  Finally, the film does have several on screen kills that are rather lackluster but what you would come to expect from a film that is not a horror flick.  With that being said, there is virtually no blood and no practical effects.  Overall, Night of the Strangler is a fun film for what it is.  The story really does pull the viewer in and the killer's reveal is truly shocking.  With that being said, don't expect a horror film because you will be very disappointed.  Check it out.