The Psychopath (1966 film)
| The Psychopath | |
|---|---|
| File:The Psychopath german poster.jpg German poster | |
| Directed by | Freddie Francis |
| Written by | Robert Bloch |
| Produced by | Max Rosenberg Milton Subotsky |
| Starring | Patrick Wymark |
| Cinematography | John Wilcox |
| Edited by | Oswald Hafenrichter |
| Music by | Elisabeth Lutyens |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Paramount British Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 82 min. |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
The Psychopath is a 1966 British Technicolor horror film directed by Freddie Francis and written by Robert Bloch in Techniscope. It stars Patrick Wymark and Margaret Johnston and was an Amicus production. [1]
Plot
Police inspector Holloway (Patrick Wymark) investigates a string of murders where the victims have dolls attached to their bodies. The trail soon leads to a disabled German woman named Mrs. Von Sturm (Margaret Johnston), who knows a set of dark secrets that may hold the key to the murders.
Cast
- Patrick Wymark as Inspector Holloway
- Margaret Johnston as Mrs. Von Sturm
- John Standing as Mark Von Sturm
- Alexander Knox as Frank Saville
- Judy Huxtable as Louise Saville
- Don Borisenko as Donald Loftis
- Thorley Walters as Martin Roth
- Robert Crewdson as Victor Ledoux
- Colin Gordon as Dr. Glyn
- Tim Barrett as Morgan
- John Harvey as Reinhardt Klermer
- Harold Lang as Briggs
Production
The film was originally known as Schizo. Shooting started September 1965.[2]
The Psychopath was an attempt to capitalize on the success of Hammer Films' recent series of psychological thrillers, including Taste of Fear.[3]
Robert Bloch recalls in his autobiography being taken with his wife to the country in England by Ronald Kirkbride, and "the next morning a limo took us to Shepperton Studios, where we lunched after watching Freddy Francis helm a scene for The Psychopath. The scene that morning was one I had indicated as taking place at the bottom of a staircase leading to the upper floor of a house. But everything they actually shot now took place at the top of a staircase which descended to the cellar. What I wrote up they put down. And when I took director Francis aside and questioned him about the change he pointed out that building a set with a stairway was expensive. Shooting from a high angle into the redressed recess beneath a soundstage trapdoor saved money. In other words, I was right back on The Couch (film) with The Night Walker. A low-budget film always operates on the same principle, that is to say, no principle whatsoever except saving a buck, even if it means losing the potential of the picture". [4].
Reception
The film was very popular in Europe, particularly Italy.[3]
Michael Weldon writes of the film as "a good shocker". [5].
References
- ^ http://www.allmovie.com/work/the-psychopath-106848
- ^ Ed. Allan Bryce, Amicus: The Studio That Dripped Blood, Stray Cat Publishing, 2000 p 40-42
- ^ a b Nathaniel Thompson, "The Psychopath", Turner Classic Movies accessed 23 February 2014
- ^ Robert Bloch. Once Around the Bloch: An Unauthorized Autobiography. NY: Tor Books, 1993, p. 328
- ^ The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film. London: Plexus, 1989, p. 569
External links
- The Psychopath at IMDb
- The Psychopath at TCMDB
- The Psychopath at AllMovie
- The Psychopath at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
- The Psychopath by TCM Underground
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