Hollywood 90028 (1973)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Christine Hornisher

Writer:

Craig Hansen (writer)

Genre:

Drama | Horror

Tagline:

The bizarre and terrifying story of a psychotic killer.

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Photograph | Cameraman | Psychotronic | Psychopathic Killer

Cast

Christopher Augustine	...	Mark
Jeanette Dilger	...	Michele
Dick Glass	...	Jobal
Gayle Davis	...	Gretchen
Ralph Campbell
Kia Cameron
Dianna Huntress
Beverly Walker

Also Known As:

Insanity (UK) (video title)
The Hollywood Hillside Strangler (USA) (reissue title)

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:R

Company:

US3

A Genuine Work of Art

Now first of all you're probably going to think I'm crazy for giving this piece of **** 10 stars. After all, the film has ropey acting, terrible sound, murky cinematography and moves at the pace of a slug on mogadon (all true). Thing is; it's an outstanding piece of work. It's one of only two films that I've ever seen that, the moment it finished, I rewound the tape and watched it all again. (The other one, should you be interested, was Eraserhead). I first saw it in the late 70's (possibly early 80's). It was marketed as "Insanity", had a lurid cover, and was on betamax no less! For some reason it got caught up in the great video nasty furore and got itself banned. I think. It certainly disappeared without a trace. I haven't seen it for close on 30 years and yet its strange power still exerts a tight strangle hold on me. The ending is stunning. If the film wasn't as obscure it would surely have been ripped of by a thousand lesser talents. It's kind of a spectacular non ending - think of Electra Glide in Blue , The Passenger and Zabriskie Point - where the director basically just flaunts their artistry at you. Awesome. Jaw dropping. Antonioni (as I've already alluded to) is the closest reference point to this breath-taking work. And like Antonioni, the dialogue is sprinkled with unsettling non sequiturs eg "Didn't you ever want to be an architecture?" "A What?" "An architecture, you know a guy who builds buildings" "No, but I used to want to be a sculpture" Or this one: "Do you live alone?" "Everybody lives alone". Why these strange zen like exchanges has stayed with me all these years I can't explain. But they have. And that's one of the the powers of this odd little film. It's an insidious and disquieting treatise on alienation as Taxi Driver. Not everyone's cup of tea, I'd grant you, but for those with tastes outside of the mainstream, one certainly worth checking out.