Schizoid (Murder by Mail) (1980)

Schizoid Aka (Murder by Mail) is an American horror film directed and written by David Paulsen staring Klaus Kinski and Christopher Lloyd. The story revolves around a young advice columnist Julie (Marianna Hill) who begins receiving threatening notes of murder and other gruesome acts. She attends a routine therapy session with another group of young women who unfortunately, are stabbed and killed one by one by a mysterious killer. Her friends and the police believe that the murder notes she received is a hoax since the note talks about murder with a gun and not a knife. Throughout the film it becomes more apparent that there is someone closer to her that is responsible for the murder notes. Is it Pieter (Klaus Kinski) her therapist who has sex with his patients before they get murdered? Many motives present themselves in this Thriller as everyone who surrounds Julie, even her ex-husband Doug (Craig Wasson), seems to be disturbed enough to commit these heinous acts. With more murder notes, tensions tighten as the young advice columnist begins to not know who to trust. She wonders if she is next.  If not, why? This edge of your seat thriller will keep you guessing and is a must see for any fan of the murder mystery genre. Originally released in 1980, it recently was re-released as a double feature by Scream! Factory which was released on BluRay and includes a bonus interview with Donna Wilkes. This film is packed with insatiable actions by Klaus Kinski and Christopher Lloyd.  This film is a must own for any fan of their work.

Crawlspace (1986)

Crawlspace is a classic claustrophobic journey into the horror realm, featuring two major stars in horror, Talia Balsam (Lori Bancroft) and Klaus Kinski (Karl Guenther), produced by Robert Bessi along side with ex-producer Charles Band of Full Moon Entertainment and written and directed by David Schmoeller. Guenther, is a physician and has a nasty habit of trapping, capturing and torturing young women to death by means of a secret crawlspace designed as air vents in every apartment building that he manages. Lori Bancroft, a single young college student answers an ad about a vacant apartment, oblivious that a few unfortunate incidents occurred there previously. She agrees to rent the apartment and Guenther couldn’t be happier. Guenther writes daily in his journal detailing his addiction in torturing and killing and how it is the only way he can feel “life". He keeps one of his victims as a pet, cutting out her tongue and keeping her in a cage. Guenther enjoys spying on his clients through the air vents in each apartment. He uses the crawlspace throughout the entire apartment building to spy on his tenants and plants various contraptions in the apartments to frighten and manipulate them. Later in the film, between the weirdness of Guenther’s stalking and killing, Josef Steiner (Kenneth Shippy) visits Guenther after years of searching for him. Steiner claims that his brother died at the hands of Guenther, who practiced euthanasia, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Steiner shows Guenther a picture of his father dressed in a World War II SS Nazi uniform along with papers depicting torture devices his father designed for use in the concentration camps. Steiner visits Bancroft and is informed of Guenther’s dark past. Now aware of this new knowledge, Bancroft sets out to find the cause of the strange happenings in her apartment. Bancroft now realizes she is being terrorized by Guenther and enters his apartment where she discovers the crawlspace, which many are booby-trapped while Guenther gives chase. Crawlspace is a must see for any fan of the thriller or horror genre. Released on BluRay, DVD and Amazon Prime by Scream! Factory Crawlspace is a must own.