‘Mother may I go out and kill?’
The Psychopath is a 1966 British horror thriller film about four men who are found murdered with tiny dolls left next to their corpses. It transpires that they were all involved in the investigation of a German millionaire at the end of World War II.
The movie was directed by Freddie Francis from a screenplay by Robert Bloch (Psycho). The Amicus production stars Patrick Wymark (Repulsion; The Skull; The Blood on Satan’s Claw), Margaret Johnston, John Standing (Torture Garden), Alexander Knox (The Damned), Judy Huxtable (Scream and Scream Again; Die Screaming Marianne), Thorley Walters (Dracula: Prince of Darkness; Twisted Nerve; Vampire Circus), Robert Crewdson (The Night Caller), Colin Gordon, Tim Barrett, Frank Forsyth, Olive Gregg, Harold Lang (Doctor Terror’s House of Horrors), Gina Gianelli (The Deadly Bees), Peter Diamond.
This murder mystery contains elements of Edgar Wallace and is, in effect, a British proto-Giallo (albeit one scripted by an American writer), filmed in 1965, just a year after Mario Bava’s seminal Blood and Black Lace. The presence of Italian actress Gina Gianelli in a fetishistic shiny red coat is also a link towards future Gialli.
The film’s distinctive score was composed by Elisabeth Lutyens (Paranoiac; The Earth Dies Screaming; The Skull).
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On April 10, 2018, The Psychopath was released in the USA on Blu-ray and DVD by Kino Classics. Special Features include:
Audio Commentary by Film Historian Troy Howarth
Reversible Artwork
Trailer
Gallery
A cynical police inspector (Patrick Wymark) investigates a string of murders where the victims have dolls attached to their bodies. The trail soon leads to one Mrs Von Sturm (Margaret Johnston), who knows a set of dark secrets that may hold the key to the murders…
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Choice dialogue:
Mrs Von Sturm: “Years can be cruel… but not as cruel as men!”
Film fun:
The working title was Schizo.
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