Until today, if asked me to name my favourite trashy '70s American grind-house movie, my answer would have been either Love Me Deadly (1972) or The Love Butcher (1975); now I reckon The Psycho Lover takes the prize. It's crazy, mean-spirited exploitation goodness from start to finish.
The film opens as it means to go on with a sleazy pre-credits murder scene that is about as un-PC as you can get: a young woman is getting ready for bed when she is attacked by a stranger with a stocking over his face. The intruder proceeds to rape the woman, who eventually starts to enjoy the experience (contentious, to say the least!), but who isn't quite so enthusiastic when the maniac strangles her. It's a taboo-busting start that really grabs the attention.
This opening assault is one of a series of similar misogynistic murders under investigation by Detective Morlock (John Vincent), who enlists the help of psychiatrist Kenneth Alden (Lawrence Montaigne), who delves deep into the psyche of suspect Marco Everson (Frank Cuva) to try and determine whether the man's confessions are real or just fantasy. While treating Marco with hypnotism, Kenneth hatches a plot to rid himself of his drunken floozy of a wife Valerie (Jo Anne Meredith) so that he can spend the rest of his days with his pretty 23-year-old mistress Stacy (Elizabeth Plumb).
In addition to several brutal murder scenes in which each victim is stripped naked, raped and strangled (but not necessarily in that order), The Psycho Lover delivers soft-core love scenes set to hippy pop songs, a hilarious surreal dream sequence featuring a topless go-go dancing woman with bad face paint, a spot of grass sledding, a truly ridiculous plot device that sees the supposedly highly intelligent Kenneth leaving behind incriminating evidence on cassette for his wife to find, a victim repeatedly evading her attacker in a small apartment by hiding behind various pieces of furniture, and a surprisingly downbeat ending. Also worthy of mention is Kenneth's amazing sports car, a really wacky gold-coloured vehicle that looks like several different cars mashed into one, and which comes complete with an electric roof and door, and radar!
9 ketchup bottles out of 10. Check it out!
