Karen Black plays smack-addict hooker Elizabeth Lucy, who falls to her death from a balcony. Christopher Plummer is Detective Jim Henderson, who investigates the hooker's untimely demise, the events leading up to her death told in a series of flashbacks intercut with Henderson's police-work.
I have two big problems with this film: 1) it's incredibly slow, with very little of interest happening for much of the time, and 2) it's not very thrilling since we know of Elizabeth's fate from the outset. Black and Plummer are fine in their roles, but they cannot make up for the sluggish pace and uneventful script.
Admittedly, the finalé, in which we see the hooker lured to her fate at the hands of a Satanic cult, is suitably atmospheric, with eerie chanting (a haunting mix of slow vocals and weird speeded-up chipmunk singing) and menacing robed figures, but Director Harvey Hart blows it with a confusing scene in which Plummer's cop is goaded by the lead Satanist into shooting him (by accusing Henderson of being happy when his wife died?). In the end, the film feels like a waste of talent and a waste of time.
3.5 out of 10, rounded down for the melancholic, hippie-style folk songs (sung by Black) that only add to the dreariness.
I have two big problems with this film: 1) it's incredibly slow, with very little of interest happening for much of the time, and 2) it's not very thrilling since we know of Elizabeth's fate from the outset. Black and Plummer are fine in their roles, but they cannot make up for the sluggish pace and uneventful script.
Admittedly, the finalé, in which we see the hooker lured to her fate at the hands of a Satanic cult, is suitably atmospheric, with eerie chanting (a haunting mix of slow vocals and weird speeded-up chipmunk singing) and menacing robed figures, but Director Harvey Hart blows it with a confusing scene in which Plummer's cop is goaded by the lead Satanist into shooting him (by accusing Henderson of being happy when his wife died?). In the end, the film feels like a waste of talent and a waste of time.
3.5 out of 10, rounded down for the melancholic, hippie-style folk songs (sung by Black) that only add to the dreariness.