‘When the left hand doesn’t know who the right hand is killing!!’
Schizo is a 1976 British slasher horror film produced and directed by Pete Walker (House of the Long Shadows; The Comeback; House of Mortal Sin; Frightmare) from a screenplay written by David McGillivray (Terror; Satan’s Slave; House of Whipcord).
The movie stars Lynne Frederick (Phase IV; Vampire Circus; No Blade of Grass), John Leyton, Stephanie Beacham (Dracula A.D. 1972; House of Mortal Sin; The Nightcomers), John Fraser (The Gorgon) and Jack Watson (From Beyond the Grave; Tower of Evil; Peeping Tom).
Even at the time of its release, Schizo garnered a negative reputation for portraying mental illness in an unsubtle and unsympathetic manner and a pre-credits disclaimer was added to deflect criticism. The British pre-cert release also suffered over a minute’s worth of cuts. Thankfully, the US Redemption Blu-ray is fully uncut.
Plot:
A little girl watches helplessly as she is the sole witness to her mother’s murder.
Years later, that little girl has become the beautiful skating star Samantha Gray (Lynne Frederick). However, after her wedding announcement is published in the local newspaper, a man who becomes increasingly obsessed with her begins appearing everywhere she goes.
Samantha’s fear mounts as one by one her friends are murdered, and she becomes convinced that the stalker is no stranger…
Buy Schizo uncut on Blu-ray: Amazon.com
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Trailer:
Free on YouTube:
Buy Making Mischief: The Cult Films of Peter Walker book from Amazon.com
Buy DVD: Amazon.com
Cast and characters:
Lynne Frederick … Samantha Gray
John Leyton … Alan Falconer
Stephanie Beacham … Beth
John Fraser … Leonard Hawthorne
Jack Watson … William Haskin
Queenie Watts … Mrs Wallace
Trisha Mortimer … Joy
John McEnery … Stephens
Paul Alexander … Peter McAllister
Robert Mill … Maitre
Diana King … Mrs Falconer
Colin Jeavons … Commissioner
Victor Winding … Sergeant
Raymond Bowers … Manager
Pearl Hackney … Lady at Seance
Terry Duggan … Editor
Lindsay Campbell … Falconer
Wendy Gilmore … Samantha’s Mother
Primi Townsend … Secretary
Victoria Allum … Samantha as a Child
David McGillivray … Nervous man at seance
Filming locations:
Elizabeth Court, London, SW1
King’s Cross Railway Station, London, N1
Old Hampstead Town Hall, Haverstock Hill, London, NW3,
Swing Bridge, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England
Wimpole Street, London, W1
