Wicked, Wicked (1973)

TCM is showing the weirdest 1974 psycho killer film, Wicked Wicked. It takes place at the historic (and reportedly haunted) Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego, set up to be a residential hotel.Almost the whole movie is done in split-screen. Not like the TV show 24 where they show different things happening at the same time - instead, the second screen illustrates backstory and foreshadowing with flashbacks, internal thoughts, and just weird little bits of the story - like, on one screen the creepy kid is telling a pretty girl he studied chemistry, and the other screen shows him young and reading a book on embalming. The music is all soap opera organ (we even see the guy playing it on occasion?!) and the script seems to spoof slasher movies, but it's very well played. It's just so offbeat, I really enjoyed it - I had to stop what I was doing so I could watch closely and absorb the two different POVs running side by side. Never heard of it before - just saw the Hotel Del in the opening shots, and stayed on this channel ------Aside from some interesting storytelling, it's a love letter to the Hotel Del - a bunch of exterior shots, from different angles, plus the Crown Room, the west bell lobby, the beachfront and fountain pools, and a lot of hall and interior shots that sher look like the Hotel itself. The "Wicked Wicked" theme song is still stuck in my head - it's performed on stage I think 2 1/2 times, plus it runs over the credits, a schmaltzy James Bond lounge affair...the girl singer kind of gargles the lyrics, but in a creepy cool way that I THINK may have been intentional parody (she may have been doing Sammy Davis Jr) --Just an odd, interesting little film -

A mentally disturbed electrician for a beach front resort, Jason(Randolph Roberts), a victim of a terrible childhood, murders selected blonde females(..modeled after a woman who adopted him, attempting to molest the child leading to her husband's beating him)checking in for a room, peering from a hole in the attic with his binoculars. He's a skilled locksmith(..just one of many talents)and has the ability to get into his victims' rooms using a spare key, hiding in their closets, before attacking them with a knife he sharpens. Jason wears a red jacket(..the kind porters wear)and grotesque Halloween mask before startling his victims who have no clue that a killer awaits them. Securtity guard for the resort, Rick Stewart(David Baily), an ex-cop who lost his job after the unfortunate shooting of an innocent man, is called on to find missing women who supposedly left the hotel without paying their bill. As Rick begins investigating the case, however, he believes there's a murderer loose, but getting others(..like his boss who doesn't want any bad publicity ruining business and tourism, or a sergeant who wants this big city cop "from the north" to let the police handle the situation)to listen is another story. Meanwhile, Stewart's ex-wife, Lisa(..the curvy Tiffany Bolling), on tour trying to find a record label, decides to dye her hair blonde, with Jason(..operating the spot-light for her singing performances at the resort)making her his next target. Jason confides in Lenore(Madeleine Sherwood of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof), a relic whose incoming checks from the inheritance of her late husband having run dry leaving her with the possibility of being thrown out after nearly 22 years of living in the resort, perhaps representing the mother he never had. When an attempt to murder Lisa is unsuccessful, Jason's life slowly unravels with Rick nipping at his heels. Jason's hide-out, a specific room hidden within the resort whose blue-prints have been revised over the years as the hotel has been re-modified and renovated, gives him access to roam the halls quietly. But, it's only a matter of time before Jason makes that fatal mistake which leads to his ruin.Besides the gimmick of "duo-vision", while the film is, in essence, the hunt(..by an amateur sleuth, with a detective's instincts)for a serial killer, I think "Wicked, Wicked" is mostly a 70's "Grand Hotel" without the big name cast often associated with such a film. Utilizing the split screen, the director is able to build exposition on the characters. Like Jason. We're able to see what motivates his desire to kill, and why he chooses blonds..this happens while he's speaking with Lenore on the other side of the screen. Lenore's real past is displayed on one side of the screen while she's telling a fabricated one to Jason on the other. The director can show Jason getting prepared for the kill while on the other side the screen we see a victim getting undressed for her shower. As a killer peers from the attic with his binoculars on one side of the screen, who he is eyeballing is getting her key to the room(..and while the killer is sharpening his knife, the female victim is closing in on her hotel room). The split screen allows the director a chance to tell simultaneous stories at the same time, without taking away from the viewer, even if such a process makes the audience work harder in gathering the information presented. I can understand why the use of "duo-vision" didn't catch on, though, because most audiences will probably find having to follow events taking place on two sides of the screen exhausting. I found the challenge stimulating, even if there were times where the director had nothing to do but show an organist playing "Phantom of the Opera" as a murder sequence was being carried out. The macabre premise of a killer working within the confines of a resort, achieving access due to his knowledge of old rooms abandoned by those who developed the hotel, really won me over big time. Especially, when we find out where Jason keeps the murdered corpses of the women who wound up missing. There's a clever use of a dumbwaiter which Jason is able to use to get into the Presidential suite of Lisa's newly applied quarters, and the cat-and-mouse between the killer and sleuth is fun to watch. Many found this boring, because a great deal of the film shows characters talking using split-screen to tell their stories, often in two ways..the past and present. Slasher fans might enter expecting constant blood-shed, but I think this is about what drives this psycho to commit these deeds, his methods and travel, and the mistakes he makes along the way. There's a beheading by a guillotine, though, and the first knife-murder certainly is memorably nasty. I really think the film has so many clever ways of using the duo-vision process, that "Wicked, Wicked" shouldn't be totally dismissed. I think some folks, seeking something different, might like this flick. It's an interesting curio, and I thank Turner Classics for bringing it to me. Despite a PG rating, this film has a disturbing scene where Jason, as a child, is almost sexually molested by an adopted mother. And, the film has a warped sense of humor, not to mention a rather startling conclusion regarding Jason's fate.

This movie was funny as hell if you have the right sense of humor. Ahead of its time along with Private Parts which was playing with it in a double feature back in the early seventies. Worked at the theater it was playing in. Saw it at least 10 times in one week.Would love to see it again. Love the ending as the cop urges the killer to jump. Also the part where Jason whacks the Mother Superior from the Flying Nun. The organist was great also. I cannot exactly remember if she cracks her knuckles or burps when she pauses. Also love the flashback scenes of Jason being molested. A Classic for cult movie lovers. I think it should be remade with myself in the title role.

OK, if you've heard anything about this movie, it's that the entire thing is in split-screen. 1970 was in the period when movie gimmicks were dying; William Castle had turned to producing with "Rosemary's Baby" and given up directing, 3-D was dead, and the audience participation concept was eradicated. "Wicked Wicked" must have been a nice return to the selling gimmick. Only this time, you didn't get items as a gimmick (bloody axes, 3-D glasses, plastic coins, barf bags), the whole movie viewing experience was a gimmick. Unfortunately, the makers of the movie thought that the split-screen effects would make "Wicked Wicked" a great film. In fact, it's just the opposite.I have always loved the idea of split-screen techniques used in movies (employed heartily by Brian dePalma for "Carrie", "Dressed to Kill", and others) and jumped at the chance of seeing this when I heard of the gimmick. Here's the final verdict: fun to watch, just don't take it seriously. The plot is flimsy (a murderer is stalking a hotel) and most of the acting horrible. But how can a movie go wrong with Tiffany Bolling in the cast? Beautiful blonde Tiffany Bolling spends half the movie in a black wig, the other with her gorgeous blond locks playing a lounge singer stalked by the killer. This woman steals the show, just like she does in "Kingdom of the Spiders" and "The Candy Snatchers". The music is atmospheric and makes for great background music, but is finally pushed to the point of head-splitting annoyance!If you enjoy split-screen and Tiffany Bolling, watch the movie. If not, you will probably find the whole thing tedious (which most of it is) and a cheap attempt to win an audience. Doesn't work a horror film, but will definitely win a larger cult if MGM just releases this on video (likewise with "Night of the Lepus" and "Private Parts"!).