This film is quite possibly the most irritating movie ever made because of the split screen footage. The idea behind the film is admirable and Tony Curtis was excellent, considering the risk he took with his "lady's man" reputation when he agreed to this role. I also really enjoyed the single screen hand cam direction, which gives you the first hand feel for the film:-either from the POV of De Silva or the victims. However, I fail to see how 90% of that film was necessary with all the split screen action. It failed to add anything to the film, besides distracting the viewer from a less than great script and most of the split screen work was totally irrelevent. It almost looks to me like the producers had some hotshot director/editor trying to make a name for himself by being "innovative" with these new techniques when all it done was take you away from the central part of the film, the fact tht over a dozen women lost their lives to this man or men, depending on what theory you believe
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Owen-13
15 years ago
Curtis actually sought this role, and worked hard to change the producers mind when he was initially rejected for it. He attended his audition in character for the part, and was convincing enough to be accepted, and it did indeed change his image in Hollywood.
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OneBadGuy
14 years ago
I thought the split screen technique was hit and miss. It could be distracting (split screens always are anyways), but there were some effective moments such when the young woman is calling the cops while her friend is on the other phone with the pervert. That said, what was more impressive to me were the flashbacks near the ending even though they do feel familiar to a modern audience. This film is definitely a product of its time.
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frumwannabe
14 years ago
I found the split screen was used effectively in this film. Some sets were used artistically: to show Tony Curtis' aliention or his mental difficulty in recognizing his alternate personality.
Other series of split screen highlighted his successful technique for getting into his victims' homes and escape without detection. At the time, people were terrified of a killer who might select anyone and who had managed to evade detection.
To see the selected victim in what would be her last moments, doing something ordinary while in the other screen, Tony Curtis is using his method to hunt her down which has been successful. We get to see how he chooses his victims and it highlights the suspense. Particularly, when he knocks on the door and the woman who answers is not the one we have been watching in the alternate screen.
The creative shots of the old woman framed in a silhouette of Curtis' head: he remembers her. She is in his head.
The dollhouse scene where we see what DeSalvo is remembering; but Henry Fonda is there. He is in the hall of the apartment building. He appears again and again in somewhat of a psychodelic manner. But it works for the picture because it shows what is on the surface of a killer who looks totally ordinary.
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TSMChicago
13 years ago
I agree that split screen and multi-images can be effective. Brian DePalma makes great use of the technique in several of his films (Carrie, Sisters, Dressed to Kill). As mentioned earlier there were the concert documentaries Woodstock and Mad Dogs and Englishmen. It is often used as a montage device in films like The Longest Yard and Bless the Beasts and the Chldren. Then there is the '70s drive-in classic Wicked, Wicked which is shown entirely in split screen.
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