Directed and written by George Mendeluk (Doin' Time, The Kidnapping of the President, Meatballs III: Summer Job), and based on The Sin Sniper by Hugh Garner, this has a killer with an interesting weapon: a camera with a long-range lens takes a photo of each victim seconds before the killer shoots them. The killer is sending these photos to the police to taunt them as he kills as many women as possible.
Sergeant Boyd (Richard Crenna) is Toronto's meanest cop and he wants this killer dead or in jail. He's trying to protect the sex workers of Yonge Street, who include both real girls of the night and actresses, like Linnea Quigley, who plays the first victim. Plus, Paul Williams plays the man who owns all these women, Julius Kurtz. There's also the typical call girl with a good heart, Monica Page (Linda Sorensen) and a tough undercover female cop, Sandy McCauley (Belinda J. Montgomery). This is a Canadian movie, which is definitely proved to be true when Lesleh Donaldson has a small role. She was in almost every northern horror movie that mattered, including Funeral Home, Happy Birthday to Me, Curtains and Deadly Eyes.
There are a lot of reviews online that don't enjoy this movie. How can they feel that way with such a powerful ending and the chance to see the actual darkness of Toronto before it was all cleaned up? I mean, the former Psychedelic Avenue might not be the same any more, but Zanzibar survives. I wish I could have seen it back in the 60s when it had what owner David Cooper said was a "Twenty-first Century total environment with "stroboscopic" lights, mannequins and closed-circuit cameras that would take photos of the dance floor and project them on the wall."
It's a fun movie but not the best giallo made in Canada. That would be Strange Shadows in an Empty Room.
Sergeant Boyd (Richard Crenna) is Toronto's meanest cop and he wants this killer dead or in jail. He's trying to protect the sex workers of Yonge Street, who include both real girls of the night and actresses, like Linnea Quigley, who plays the first victim. Plus, Paul Williams plays the man who owns all these women, Julius Kurtz. There's also the typical call girl with a good heart, Monica Page (Linda Sorensen) and a tough undercover female cop, Sandy McCauley (Belinda J. Montgomery). This is a Canadian movie, which is definitely proved to be true when Lesleh Donaldson has a small role. She was in almost every northern horror movie that mattered, including Funeral Home, Happy Birthday to Me, Curtains and Deadly Eyes.
There are a lot of reviews online that don't enjoy this movie. How can they feel that way with such a powerful ending and the chance to see the actual darkness of Toronto before it was all cleaned up? I mean, the former Psychedelic Avenue might not be the same any more, but Zanzibar survives. I wish I could have seen it back in the 60s when it had what owner David Cooper said was a "Twenty-first Century total environment with "stroboscopic" lights, mannequins and closed-circuit cameras that would take photos of the dance floor and project them on the wall."
It's a fun movie but not the best giallo made in Canada. That would be Strange Shadows in an Empty Room.