1973's "The Killing Kind" just about killed off the theatrical career of director Curtis Harrington with its spotty distribution, almost entirely confined to television for more cult projects like "The Cat Creature" or "The Dead Don't Die." The original script by Tony Crechales may have sprung from his exploitation roots with "Blood Mania" and "Point of Terror," rewrites done by regular Harrington producer George Edwards to ensure a more polished set of characters brought to life by a superb cast of veterans and newcomers (starting life under the title "Are You a Good Boy Now?"). This deliberately paced thriller builds tension around John Savage's central performance as budding psychotic Terry Lambert, just released from prison after a two year stretch for rape in which he was most reluctant and indeed impotent, back home with doting mother Thelma (Ann Sothern), reduced to running their huge home as a hotel with elderly ladies as boarders. Thelma immediately courts trouble by allowing aspiring model Lori Davis (Cindy Williams) to rent her last room, a sweet temptress for confused Terry and his penchant for voyeurism. Also watching from nearby is mousy dipsomaniac Louise Elmore (Luana Anders), a put upon librarian taking care of an elderly father (Peter Brocco) while fantasizing about the boy next door, often seen strumming his guitar yet never breaking out in song. Innocent flirtations around the swimming pool swiftly transform into a near drowning for poor Lori, and Louise sharing her frustrated rape fantasies also drive Terry to distraction. He first strangles his mother's most cherished feline rather than allow its meowing to reveal him prowling outside Lori's window, then he stuns a tenant by demonstrating a mouse trap on a doomed rat. The dam finally bursts as he stalks the girl who accused him of rape, running her off the road with glee, next forcing a bottle of cheap wine down the throat of his useless attorney (Ruth Roman) so that she hasn't the fight to prevent her home going up in flames. His mother is aware of his actions but accepts his denials of wrongdoing, continues taking snapshots of her boy (even nude in the shower), and insists that he kiss her on the lips (he only calls her by her first name though, to her chagrin). This is an expertly conceived analysis of the Oedipus complex, made all the more effective by nuanced acting, Ann Sothern cast against type yet undeniably a loving, if suffocating, maternal figure, John Savage literally a ticking time bomb that could go off at any time. Those who remember Cindy Williams from LAVERNE & SHIRLEY may well rejoice at her attractive, down to earth turn here, the girl next door whose naivete results in tragedy. Speaking of girls next door, Luana Anders was no stranger to director Harrington since she played the sweet ingenue in his 1961 "Night Tide," a decidedly creepy yet undeniably sexy spinster eager for a genuine sexual tryst; apparently, the writers had more to say about Louise because a follow up emerged in 1980, "The Attic," casting Carrie Snodgress as the librarian and none other than Ray Milland her tyrannical, wheelchair-bound father.
Review of The Killing Kind
