Yeah, about that...
Schizo is a 1976 horror film directed by Pete Walker.
A newly married woman (Lynne Frederick) is tormented by visions of a strange man stalking her, and various other occurrences. But, is she just going crazy, or is the strange man really there? And does the man have anything to do with the black-gloved killer offing people around her?
This film contains examples of:
- Abusive Parents: Jean's mother threatens to hit her daughter when the latter walks in on her while having sex.
- Alone with the Psycho: The final chase at the factory.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: The killer seems like a pleasant person at first, but they hide a much darker side that murders anyone that either angers them in some manner or could expose them.
- Clear My Name: William is stalking Sam because she killed her mother and he was blamed for it. Now, he's trying to remind her of the murder in order to draw a confession out of her.
- Creepy Child: In a flashback, Jean murders her mother.
- Cruel and Unusual Death:
- Joy Wallace is beaten with a mallet, then while still alive, is pushed out in front of a bus which runs her over.
- Mrs. Wallace is stabbed through the head with a knitting needle.
- Downer Ending: Sam gets away with everything and will likely go on to kill again, while everyone thinks that William was the killer.
- Eye Scream: When Mrs. Wallace is stabbed through the head, the needle pokes out through her eye.
- Foreshadowing: The newspaper at the beginning refers to Sam as an ice queen. Guess who turns out to be the killer?
- Giallo: Not of Italian origin, but it has the tone and plot of one. Not to mention, the film features a black-gloved killer whose identity is not revealed until the end, murdering people who know too much.
- Gorn: Mrs. Longworth is stabbed to death while nude.
- Hand of Death: For every murder scene, all that's shown of the killer is their black gloves.
- Hope Spot: After being impaled, William Haskin somehow manages to escape the spikes, making the audience believe he might succeed in his mission. However, this is quickly dashed when William barely is able to make it to the killer before collapsing and dying.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice:
- Mrs. Wallace, via a knitting needle.
- William Haskin, via a factory machine.
- Never One Murder: The body count is five.
- Psycho Knife Nut: The killer, Sam stabbed her mother to death with one, slit Leonard's throat with one, and hides a dagger in her kitchen drawer, which she will likely use to kill Alan.
- Psychic Powers: Joy Wallace has the ability to channel the dead. Unfortunately, this leads to her undoing when she manages to channel one of the killer's victims, making her a liability in the killer's eyes.
- Red Herring:
- The strange man stalking Sam is not the killer. He's trying to expose a killer.
- Sam's husband, Alan sports black leather driving gloves at one point.
- Slasher Movie: Definitely more on the psychological side of things, but still one due to its gory kills.
- The Reveal: The killer is Sam, aka Jean Longworth, a girl that murdered her mother and framed the lover, William Haskin for it. The strange man stalking her is William, who was trying to remind her of the past in hope to get her to confess.
- The Un Twist: The killer's identity really isn't that big of a mystery, when you look at their sleeves.
- They Know Too Much:
- Leonard is murdered because he's the killer's psychiatrist and realized that the latter is not right in the head.
- Joy Wallace is murdered because the killer believed that she learned their identity from Leonard's spirit.
