The Centerfold Girls (1974)

User Rating:

4.9/10   

Director:

John Peyser

Writers:

Arthur Marks (story)
Bob Peete (screenplay)

Release Date:

26 September 1975 (Denmark)

Genre:

Thriller

Tagline:

the most beautiful girls in the world ... some are for loving ... some are for killing!

Plot:

A depraved religious fanatic sets out to punish all the "immoral" women who have posed for the center-fold of a men's magazine. |

Plot Keywords:

Nurse | Psychopath | Nude Model | Murder | Rampage

Cast

Jaime Lyn Bauer	...	Jackie
Aldo Ray	...	Ed Walker
Dennis Olivieri	...	Tim
Janet Wood	...	Linda
Teda Bracci	...	Rita
Tallie Cochrane	...	Donna
Paula Shaw	...	Mrs. Walker
John Hart	...	Sheriff
Jaki Dunn	...	Nurse
Charlie	...	Miss January
Ray Danton	...	Perry
Francine York	...	Melissa
Jeremy Slate	...	Sgt. Garrett
Mike Mazurki	...	The Caretaker
Jennifer Ashley	...	Charly

Also Known As:

Girl Hunter (Europe: English title) (video box title)

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Norway:18 (video premiere) | USA:R | Iceland:(Banned)

Filming Locations:

Topanga Canyon, California, USA

Trivia:

Theatrical Trailer is on DVD "42nd Street Forever Volume 1" by Synapse Films.

Movie Connections:

References Cool Hand Luke (1967)

Not Bad for it's Type

6 out of 10

A psycho who believes it is wrong to pose nude for a mens magazine stalks several models who have appeared in a particular pin up calender. He then proceeds to kill them off one by one.

The film is very cheap drive in fare with rather poorly selected locales. Yet if you can get by it's low budget roots than you may at the very least find this entertaining. The acting is generally good and the scenes always manage to stay lively. There are a few good twists and nice looking ladies with an abundance of nudity. The best part about the film is that it creates a rather sinister atmosphere where just about everyone ends up being twisted in some way. It also creates the impression that being beautiful may actually be a curse. These girls are either getting snubbed by other women who are jealous, lustfully attacked, or exploited in every direction.

The film shows the psycho stalking three different models and is therefore broken up into three different segments. The first segment has definite shades of LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT as the young lady falls prey not only to this psycho but also a gang of wild hippies who harass and humiliate her. The second segment looks like a variation to AND THEN THERE WERE NONE as the psycho follows a group going to a castle on a deserted island to do a photo shoot. He then kills them all off one by one. The inside shots in this segment are too dark, one scene shifts too glaringly between night and day, and there is too much emphasis on the howling wind sound. Still it is compactly done. The third segment is good because the model is more aggressive and even fights back. There is a surreal shot here featuring a foot chase amongst a large grove of dead trees.

Prine is perfect for the psycho role. He puts verve in his deliveries and wears horn rimmed glasses that definitely make him look the part. However it would have been nice to have seen some background to this character and learn why and how he became the way he was. It would also have been nice to be given some explanation as to how he manages to obtain all these phone numbers and addresses of these models. Also where does he get all this money to do all this traipsing around anyways? He must smell awfully bad because he wears the same black suit throughout the entire course of the film.