Customer Reviews

The Killing Kind

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Killing Kind is a powerful and disturbing portrait of a killer, an entry in the genre that has never received anything close to the attention it deserves. This is a film that you will not soon forget. Curtis Harrington's direction is almost mesmerizing in its intensity and poignancy, and standout performances by John Savage and Ann Sothern are more than award-worthy in my opinion. This isn't your typical "look inside the mind of a serial killer" movie; you won't find any visceral gore or killing for the sake of killing. The Killing Kind is instead a psychological masterpiece that may send shivers up the spine of viewers uncomfortable with this particular genre. There is plenty of psychosis to spare in this neighborhood, but the focus of this black hole of doom and gloom is the special relationship between a mother and her only son.

Be ready to watch this movie as soon as you put it in because the opening shots will reach right out and grab you. The first thing you will see is a young lady being thrown beneath a pier, stripped of her clothes, and raped by a gang of hooligans. One young man just stands there, only to be forcibly thrown on top of the girl by his buddies. We see him scream, but we are not really shown what the scream really indicates (although it becomes much clearer later on). This scene sets the stage for the entire movie. Two years have passed since the "incident," and young Terry has suddenly been released from prison, coming home to the boarding house his mother runs. Thelma, his fawning mother, is overjoyed to have her little boy back; she knows her Terry would never have touched that girl - Terry is a good boy. It quickly becomes apparent that the relationship between Terry and his mother just isn't normal; there's no sign of a sexual relationship between them, but one can't help but wonder what lies beneath. Thelma is definitely overly fond of her son, and she refuses to see anything wrong with him. When a new lodger moves into the boarding house, she warns her to stay away from Terry, wrongly accusing her of misconduct even after witnessing a troubling encounter between the two in the pool. A young Cindy Williams give a memorable performance as young Lori; it's not the type of role you associate with Shirley of Laverne & Shirley, and that only makes it all the more powerful. Naturally, things only get worse as the days go by, especially when the people "responsible" for Terry's incarceration begin to die mysteriously. A spinsterish neighbor casts a further pall of dementia on the plot, and one could argue that she is even more mentally unbalanced than Terry and Thelma. I can't say the suspense really builds as the movie progresses because the suspense is there in spades from the very start; one simultaneously awaits and dreads the culmination of all this psychological horror, and director Curtis Harrington does not disappoint, delivering a powerful and truly fitting end to a film I found to be utterly amazing.

The Killing Kind deserves attention; it is a tour de force look at the very roots of a murderer's creation. I have to admit I hesitated to watch it, knowing that there was some violence to animals featured in the plot. Cruelty to animals is of course a dire warning sign of a killer in the making, but I can hardly bear to watch animals being made to suffer, even in the unreality of a film. For all the animal lovers out there, let me say that the scenes in question, while disturbing, are not overly graphic. Don't let this facet of the production deter you from seeing this outstanding film.

Shocking, mesmorizing, & riveting pyschothriller destined for "classic" status, this terrifing and intense movie finally gets the treatment it deserves with what may be it's first ever US dvd release. A wonderful glimpse into the wonderful, wacky, and raw 70's, the "golden age" of horror, the movie dares to take itself seriously, and takes on the daunting task of telling an unattracitve story that revolves around almost entirely unlikeable characters, including a protagonist who's a serial killer. Though there's little graphic violence, some of the scenes which would be considered quite mild by today's standards, resonate in a major way and be forewarned, there are some heavy moments of awkwardness and intense suspense. After years of seeing this collecting dust on the VHS shelves in obscure video stores around the globe, this truly is a hugely welcomed surprise and discovery for a veteran horror cinaphile who's seen every horror film ever made. Great tone, palpable atmosphere, and a really unforgettable performance by the late great Anne Southern, this movie is simply a chilling and disturbing ride and I'm happy to say that my nerves were widly reawakened. Strongly recommended.

This is a good movie that has a tight story with a great cast. I was shocked by how much I liked this film and was happy to get the chance to see it. It is a film about a kid who is crazy and has no idea what is right or wrong, if he cared any way. The mentally unstable kid Terry Lambert is played by John Savage who many of you have seen in other films like Salvador,The Godfather: Part III, and The Deer Hunter. Terry's mother is played by the great Ann Sothern who pretty much steals the show and is worth seeing this film for alone. Cindy Williams (from Laverne & Shirley) is in here and is so cute as a renter of one of the rooms in mom's big ol house. Things start off pretty bad for our boy Terry Lambert and only go down hill from there. If you like old 70's movies this is for sure worth a look.

The Killing Kind is a strange film indeed and one that I believe deserves closer scrutiny. I'll leave that up to the genre's talking heads though as I'm sure there's no doubt some angle here that's begging to be analyzed and over-analyzed. Personally, I'm more interested in the entertainment value of this release and I'll be darned if Savage and Sothern don't deliver it! Their onscreen relationship was absolutely disturbing and went a long way toward giving the viewers a better understanding of what made this particular psycho tick. Sothern and Savage's contrasting characters really create a complex (and creepy) relationship that's rarely seen in 70's cinema or felt in today's sterile "mature" cinema. This is a 100% character driven film that, at times, feels impossibly long but, trust me on this, is well worth the ride. If it's action or gore you're after, keep moving because there's nothing to see here.

I suppose The Killing Kind could be a rough watch for those with little patience for films that move at a snail's pace and that's understandable but I'd definitely recommend this film anyhow. It's creepy, disturbing and interesting; it's one of those films that you'll find impossible to turn off once you get into it.

The Killing Kind A really dark thriller with Ann Southern and her motherly love for her bastard son, who hates all women other than his drunk mother, who he blames for his lost life. Cindy Williams's acting would have been almost average with wearing less clothes, delivering lines like, "I've never done it before in a bathtub", wow I could really feel her pain, not. And the girl next door, with the bonus of old dad in a wheelchair, what a winner, with "You could have raped me and I would not have said anything" sounds like the girl to marry. All in all the film was right out of the 1950's dark and sex was fobidden, like Eve's apple. I give it 4 stars, Oh MOTHER where is my beer and popcorn, Norman B.

The Killing Kind is a movie about a young man who has a very controlling and obsessive mother. This same theme rings true in a lot of psycho type films. Terry returns home from some type of institution, I'm guessing a criminal detention center of some sort. When he comes home he moves back in with his deranged mother who operates a boarding house. Terry's urges become too much for him to suppress and he begins to act out again. Great acting for a movie that probably didn't receive much attention. Great serial killer / psycho film.

I bought this on the merits of curtis harrington. it is a very good movie. in fact too good with the exception of a couple of fantasies and surreal moments the film could almost be taken on a real level. it is a creepy picture. made when horror films were just that creepy. heavy on the atmosphere. the main actors all do such a great job with their roles, you almost forget who they are, almost. Shirley Feinney as you never seen her before or since. and Ann Sothern her looks and facial expressions tell as much of her story as her dialouge.Ruth Roman what happens to her is rather interesting.and John Savage in an early role. proving he is a great and underrated actor. there are a few other characters in the cast but the main star is the boarding house. Big and Gothic looking just the kind of house you would avoid on Halloween. the stars, the atmosphere, create a creepy movie. despite some script curves. highly recommended if you like suspense and horror. you won't forget Cindy Williams

Terry (John Savage, The Deer Hunter) returns to his mother Thelma's (Ann Sothern) crumbling Los Angeles mansion after serving two years in prison for his participation in the alleged gang rape of a young girl (Sue Bernard, Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!). Renting out rooms in their home to elderly women, Mama and Junior share their first big laugh talking about the undignified demise of one of their former tenants. Terry has a score to settle, as he runs his former accuser's car off the road and then murders his lawyer (Ruth Roman). Terry spies on the home's sole young, pretty occupant (Cindy Williams, years before TV's Laverne and Shirley), while the spinster librarian next door (Luana Anders) spies on Terry. Thelma tries her best to disregard what's going on underneath her flowing caftan, but when Terry's homicidal activities can't be hidden any longer, Mama makes everything right with a big glass of chocolate milk ...

Long out of print on video and criminally neglected, Dark Sky Films' release of Curtis Harrington's The Killing Kind to DVD is sure to give the film the recognition it deserves. Ken Hanke, in his definitive article on "Hag Horror" in Scarlet Street magazine, while documenting the spate of fright flicks made with past-their-prime movie queens made in the aftermath of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) cites Sothern's performance in The Killing Kind as the penultimate performance in the genre. That's quite a statement, seeing as Sothern's character is stacked against such heavy contenders such as Joan Crawford in Strait Jacket (1964), Bette Davis in The Nanny (1965), Tallulah Bankhead in Die! Die! My Darling! (1967) and a host of other leading ladies giving valedictorian performances.

Sothern's Thelma at first seems to be a familiar comedic archetype, the obese, former glamour girl forever munching from a box of chocolates, tending to her dozens of cats while dreaming of her heyday. Thelma's relationship with her son is more than just a little bit Oedipal. Her antics with Terry would make Angela Lansbury in The Manchurian Candidate (1962) recoil. Covering each other in playful kisses and giving each other massages, Thelma snaps a photo of Terry naked in the shower to which he expresses only mild irritation. The scene where Thelma talks to Terry in the kitchen about his days as a toddler while her pet myna bird trills "Are you a good boy? (the film's original title)," the viewer can literally see Terry being strangled by his mother's apron strings. By the end of The Killing Kind, Sothern kills with kindness.

Many of the characters in the film appear to be stock comedic figures from who long overstay their welcome. Anders' horny librarian, who lives with her snippy queen of a father (Peter Brocco, who later reappears in a nightmare sequence dressed in drag) shares a kinship with the Terry in that both are under the thumb of possessive parental figures. Unable to interest Terry sexually, Anders likewise finds buttons to set him off.

In an interview included on the Dark Sky Films disc, director Curtis Harrington discusses the film's spotty release, which was mishandled by amateur distributors and led to few play dates. While an excellent film, it's doubtful that The Killing Kind would achieve popular success. Relentlessly grim, it carries the thematic torch from Peter Bogdanovich's Targets (1968) that suburban homes breed the worst kind of monsters. The film's casual cruelty to animals (an essential part of most serial killers' pathology), along with a barely concealed misogyny - old women, young women, virgins, the promiscuous, all of them bad and not to be trusted - would preclude widespread ticket sales.

Heralded by many as Harrington's best film (the director, who died in 2007 was partial to his What's the Matter With Helen?), and currently available in primo shape on DVD, it's high time to honor this highly underrated director in Kind.

KILLING KIND is a terrifically dark Brit thiller, released in the UK under its original (much more resonant) title MR IN-BETWEEN, where it got some rave reviews, particularly from the more "intelligent" press. Directed by Atom Egoyan's longtime cinematographer Paul Sarossy, it's a highly ambitious journey into the mind of an antihero Jon (superbly played by Andrew Howard), who kills and maims for a living, in the employment of the malevolent Tattooed Man. KILLING KIND doesn't pull its punches, and maintains its darkly disturbing tone right up until the end, which has to be one of the most uncompromisingly shocking endings in recent years. But it is also a love story of sorts, and is punctuated by the most bizarre black humour, which at times gives it a heightened style of almost David Lynchian proportions (particularly in scenes with David Calder's Tattooed Man and his unnerving friends). It also reminds me of the best of those 70s films, which dared NOT to have the predictable happy endings that are now the Hollywood norm. For this alone, Sarossy should be highly commended. There really isn't anything else out there like this right now.