Calendar Girl Murders

Director - William A. Graham (The X-Files, Death of a Cheerleader)

Starring - Tom Skerritt (Alien, Contact), Sharon Stone (Basic Instinct, The Quick and the Dead), and Barbara Bosson (The Last Starfighter, Murder One)

Release Date - 1984

Genre - Mystery/Horror

Tagline - "The fantasy girls of the month.  Knocked off, one by one... January, February, March.  Poor miss April"

Format - Bluray (Personal Collection)

Rating (out of 5):

     When Vinegar Syndrome announced their first Televised Terrors box set I was extremely interested in it.  Made for television horror films tend to be more tame than most other genre titles but their stories typically pull you in better than theatrical and straight to video releases.  I was really interested in Are You in the House Alone? and Child in the Night but Calendar Girl Murders didn't look like one I wouldn't like.  However, I went into this one with an open mind and really enjoyed it.\

     The film follows an adult entertainment business owner who is celebrating the success of his new calendar girls with a huge party when one of the models jumps to her death from atop the building.  However, it was soon revealed that she was pushed.  Not long after this more models turn up dead.  The detective assigned to the case quickly gets to work and partners up with a former model to uncover who is responsible for the murders but the real killer was under his nose the whole time.

     Honestly, Calendar Girl Murders may have been my favorite film in the set.  I loved how it was more of a mystery set against the backdrop of beautiful women in swimsuits.  It's as sleazy as television can get for the mid-80s and I enjoyed it.   The acting in this one is surprisingly well done.  Tom Skerritt does an amazing job at an overworked detective who is hard on crime but easy on beautiful women.  I loved his character and how well be brought him to life.  The supporting cast is just as entertaining which made for a very fun and enjoyable experience.  The story for this one is not really horror but it is a fun murder mystery that has that mid-80s slasher like killer reveal.  In fact, this one plays out like a paint by numbers slasher minus the masked killer and memorable kills.  We follow people as they are killed off by an unknown killer all with connections through the calendar models.  If the film would have included bloody and gory deaths along with a memorable killer it would have been a fantastic slasher.  However, the way it is it's still an entertaining film.  Finally, we get some blood and very generic death scenes that fit the story but are very forgettable.  The film focuses more on who is killing than the killings themselves.  Overall, Calendar Girl Murders is a surprisingly fun mid-80s made for television movie that doesn't bring the gore but is still entertaining enough.  I highly recommend it.