Death Scream (1975)

A fine cop thriller loosely based on the Kitty Genovese case of the early 1960s (Genovese was murdered in NYC, her screams ignored by apathetic neighbors). Raul Julia is a cop hunting a serial rapist/murderer who's terrorizing a Brooklyn neighborhood. His first killing is witnessed and ignored by a slew of nervous Nellie's who simply do not want to get involved. With a great screenplay by Stirling Silliphant, director Richard Heffron elicits some terrific acting from not only Julia but the all-star supporting cast including Ed Asner, Cloris Leachman, Tina Louise, Tony Dow and Nancy Walker. They all play against type, with Louise a real standout. Art Carney, Sally Kirkland and John P. Ryan are in it too. The superb music score is by Gil Melle.

Above average movie based on the Kitty Genovese murder case of 1964. Kitty Genovese was a lesbian and so is the first murdered victim in this movie. Movie shows how callous people can be by ignoring a poor girl's murder. It is an all star cast, which has Dinahann Carroll as a potential suicide victim, Tina Louise as a lesbian, Ed Asner as a jealous husband, Cloris Leachman as nymphomaniac wife, Lucie Arnaz, Lucille Ball's daughter, as a potential murder victim, Art Carney and Nancy Walker play an older couple who ignore the murder. Kate Jackson has a nice cameo but this is clearly Raul Julia's movie. It is also nice to see Helen Hunt as a child actress and Tony Dow, Wally on Leave it to Beaver, in a scene as well. Sadly, this was a true case. Of all the cameos, Tina Lousie gives the best performance as the lesbian, ex-girlfriend of the victim, who is taking in to be questioned. What would Ginger Grant say? Enjoy this fun movie.

This film was one of the typical seventies crisis-of-the-week type dramas. However, I have always suspected it was at least loosely based on the infamous murder of Catherine (Kitty) Genovese, which occurred in March 1964 in Queens, New York. Ms. Genovese was murdered in an almost identical fashion to the victim in this film -- attacked in the courtyard of her apartment building in Kew Gardens, screaming in vain for help while "thirty-eight witnesses" ignored her. Since this movie was filmed a scant decade or so after the actual case, perhaps there hadn't been sufficient time for reflection on the proper way to tell the story for the ages; perhaps Ms. Genovese's family refused to allow any association; or perhaps the filmmakers were just looking for a quick buck.What they did to "spice up" the story was to add into the plotline the fact that the murder victim, "Jenny," was a lesbian; that her former girlfriend (played by Tina Louise -- imagine "the movie star" chasing Mary Ann all over Gilligan's island with perverse intentions! say it ain't so! LOL) has a history of violent and threatening behavior; and that among the neighbors who heard Jenny's dying screams are an immigrant couple from an unspecified Eastern European country who fear deportation; a sleazy housewife played by Cloris Leachman who is carrying on an affair behind her husband's back; and a married couple with Nancy Walker playing the wife, apparently having gotten lost on the way to the Bounty commercial shoot. Also look for a very young Helen Hunt, playing hotshot detective Raul Julia's daughter.It was the seventies; what can I say?

A murder is committed in front of witnesses and none would lift a hand to help the victim. Fearful of becoming involved, they would give no assistance to the police in their investigation. Although the authorities launched a large manhunt for the criminal, he continued his crime spree terrorizing the entire neighborhood. Good police drama with an exciting but somewhat unbelievable ending.