Violent Midnight (1963)

Director:

Richard Hilliard

Writers:

Richard Hilliard (story)
Robin Miller (writer)

Release Date:

24 January 1964 (West Germany)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

Earthy, wicked shocker!

Plot:

An axe murderer is loose in a small New England town. |

Plot Keywords:

Nude Model | Artist | Pregnant Woman Murdered | Murder | Nudity

Cast

Lee Philips	...	Elliot Freeman
Shepperd Strudwick	...	Adrian Benedict
Jean Hale	...	Carol Bishop
Lorraine Rogers	...	Alice St. Clair
Dick Van Patten	...	Police Lt. Palmer
Sheila Forbes	...	Janet 'Lolita' Terhune
James Farentino	...	Charlie Perone
Kaye Elhardt	...	Dolores Martello
Sylvia Miles	...	Silvia (as Silvia Miles)
Day Tuttle	...	Mr. Arthur Melbourne
Mike O'Dowd	...	Max - Adrian's Chauffeur
Mike Keene	...	Police Inspector Grey
Allen Joseph
Molly Scott
Ruth Volner

Also Known As:

Black Autumn (USA) (working title)
Psychomania (USA) (reissue title)

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Trivia:

Film itself bears 1962 copyright but earliest documented release dates (to date) are 1963.

Makes the most of a miniscule budget

Psychomania is a neat little slasher flick that has been unfairly maligned by its relationship to the creators of the genuinely dreadful (though entertaining) Horror of Party Beach. The film is shot in stark black and white, with a look that sometimes anticipates Night of the Living Dead and a trench-coated, gloved killer that pre-dates the giallo genre (Bava's Blood and Black Lace was a year away). The cast is also fun to watch, with James Farentino, Dick Van Patten, and Sylvia Miles soldiering away in the early years of their careers. Director Hilliard tries to include as many Psycho style camera shots as possible with quick edits and brief glimpses of blood, and there's even a Hitchcockian scream segueing into train noise! Tenney went on to produce another underappreciated film, Curse of the Living Corpse, the following year.