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In Sketches of a Strangler (1978) / Blood Voyage (1976)




The first flick in my retro double feature was this late 70’s schlock called In Sketches of a Strangler, about this dude who’s going around murdering prostitutes.












The film begins with a prostitute getting killed by a guy she picks up. Her twin sister, Margaret, goes to identify the body, and is shocked when she’s told by Lieutenant Grody that her sister was a hooker, and that she’s the 8th girl murdered by a maniac. Unable to shake the shock of her sister’s secret life and death, Margaret decides to pose as a prostitute herself, in an effort to try and catch the killer. She does this with the help of Artie, an ex cop who now owns a bar and is bitter over being kicked off the police force over an incident that happened some years ago. The strangler, Jack, is an art student who is living with his sister Eileen. She can’t understand why he keeps making sketches of women who looked like their mother, who was a prostitute. Worried that he’s going to get mixed up with some tramp, Eileen decides to start following him, to see where he sneaks off to at night, unaware that he’s been murdering women.











This movie was so cheesy, but quite amusing. The script and the acting were atrocious, and the actress who plays Margaret is especially bad. I found myself laughing as she made one stupid decision after another, and paired with the corny dialogue, the entire affair was funnier than hell. The music is especially cringey, especially this one song called “Pretty People” sung by someone named Jerome Stocco, that plays during the opening credits, and again in the middle of the movie. I guess they had to come up with a way to pad out the run time, so they thought it best to torture our ears with that damn abomination of a song. I streamed this z-grade silliness on YouTube, from a channel called The Burial Ground5, which features a bunch of old, retro horror and grindhouse flicks.









From that same YouTube channel, the next one was a mid 70’s slasher called Blood Voyage, about people on a yacht being stalked by a killer.








The story begins with Jules, a rich doctor, who calls up his step daughter Carol and tells her to come on a sailing trip with him to Hawaii. Having been married to Carol’s mother before her death, Jules now plans on marrying his new young girlfriend Jill. He also brings aboard his patient Amy, who had been in a mental hospital after taking a hit of acid and burning down her parents home. Amy’s father is friends with Jules, and asks the doctor to bring her along, hoping the trip will be good for her health. Also aboard are Andy, a friend of the family who had been in Vietnam, the captain Mac, and Scotty the cook. Carol schemes to get her step father Jules killed before he can marry Jill, so that she can inherit the fortune. But unbeknownst to her, someone is going around murdering everyone. Who will be left alive before they reach their destination?

















The movie is entertaining as hell, with bad acting, cheesy music, fun murders, and lots of scheming and double crossings. While it keeps you guessing who the killer is, once they’re revealed, it’s not a big surprise, as you’re given enough clues to tell you this person is off their rocker. The climax is also fast paced and funny. With a runtime of 1 hour and 15 minutes, the story zips along briskly. If you like corny retro slashers, then you’re sure to enjoy Blood Voyage.











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