Wicked, Wicked

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Jens B @Jens97 03/01/2025 "Until the goosebumps freeze" - 'Madness shines from his eyes, blood sticks to his hands ... his victims have no chance. Ice cold, according to a diabolical plan, he prepares his murders.' Where was "Wicked, Wicked", the first, latest and only thriller in duo vision in my whole life? The qualities of this film, described by director Richard L. Bare as a mixture of Grand Hotel and Grand Guignol, exceed the pure gimmick as a sales argument, as was usual with a William Castle production. In fact, the film seems to have been largely forgotten. From the studio's point of view, the complex filming and the endless post-production were clearly not worth the cost-benefit ratio. It's a shame, because the slightly Giallo-inspired crime adventure in an old hotel in Coronado knows how to entertain. Parallels to "The Phantom of the Opera" are drawn from the beginning, and an old lady accompanies the entire film on her organ. The plot revolves around blonde women who either disappear or are found murdered in the hotel. The investigation produces several suspects... We soon accompany the murderer, so the appeal of the film does not lie in the mystery of the murderer, but in the moments of tension that arise from the two perspectives. Left and right do not just run dully, but are arranged in a surprisingly sophisticated way: in monologues, the unused side becomes a flashback (which can then deviate from what is being told if the narrator is lying), symmetrical images are created and at certain moments the entire screen is used, which actually has a disruptive effect. The stereo sound is used as a duo mono sound, so each perspective has its own speaker. This helps to concentrate on the perspective that is important at the time. The film is carried by interesting characters who credibly fill the Grand Hotel with sometimes eccentric life, there is even a bit of comedy. In addition, the reason for the murderer's hatred of blondes is surprisingly dark and for a PG rated film, it gets a bit bloody. Conclusion: Entertaining proto-slasher crime thriller that has fun with its genre and uses its gimmick in a pleasingly well thought-out way. There could have been more Duo-Vision films. See more Harold H @RT02602685 06/27/2024 Poor acting, for sure. Photography is fair. But particularly grating is the sound of the organ, shown in split screen, which nearly drowns out the contemporaneous dialogue. Truly a waste of time. See more dave s @RT68722908 11/16/2020 Wicked, Wicked can best be described as mind-bendingly idiotic and is worsened, if such things are possible, by Duo-Vision (what regular folks call split-screen). This movie has literally no redeeming values…none. It's supposed to be a horror thriller with some comedy thrown in, but it doesn't work on any level. Since there isn't really enough content of value to be shown on one screen, the Duo-Vision becomes especially vexing, most notably when you have the honor of watching the organist play the film's music score, which according to the credits is from the silent film The Phantom of the Opera. Yup, that's right…it's true…you'll be watching the organist play the film score. See more 05/10/2018 Hilariously bad! The woman playing Phantom of the Opera on the piano, while making funny expressions, was definitely the top highlight of this movie! See more 03/28/2015 Boring, derivative slasher film; Tiffany Bolling sings the same song too many times, and the film's gimmick - Duovision - is annoying. See more 12/04/2014 Sometimes ideas work better on paper than they do when put into action. The movie experience Duo-Vision was one of them. The ill-fated idea had an entire movie presented in split-screen. Each half showed a different angle or scene taking place during the movie with them merging together at certain pivotal moments. 1973's slasher film "Wicked, Wicked" is the first and only movie to utilize this unique viewing experience for an entire movie. A masked killer (Randolph Robert) is stalking women at the upscale Grandview Hotel in California. Bodies begin to pile up as the manager does his best to hide the murders from guests. All the victims have one thing in common - they're all blond. Brunette lounge singer Lisa James (Tiffany Bolling) becomes a target when she dons a blond wig for her performances. Can her ex-husband and former police officer Rick Stewart (David Bailey) keep her safe? "Wicked, Wicked" is one of those movies that would have worked beautifully as part of a Horror Remix. If you aren't familiar with Horror Remixes, let me enlighten you. Three films with the same themes (Christmas, Sharks, Sorority Houses) are put together as an anthology. Each one is edited down to its basic ingredients. For example, if all the superfluous narrative and dialogue is cut out from "Silent Night, Deadly Night Part II," the 90 minute movie would end up clocking in at around 30 minutes. Most of the time all that is left is the killing sequences, nudity, and basic plot points. The good parts of "Wicked, Wicked" are fun, while the bad sections are exhausting to watch as characters yammer with each other back and forth. Things get entertaining when the masked killer shows up onscreen and takes out his victims. Actor Randy Roberts does a great job keeping the viewer bouncing back and forth between empathy and fright. Flashbacks help communicate the murderer's tragic past. Most of the action in Wicked, Wicked is accompanied by the original Phantom of the Opera score. It's awkwardly played by an old lady sitting at an organ. Many times she's shown in one frame as the killings and drama unfold on the other half. It seems like the director was trying to fill space on one side because they didn't have enough footage to accompany certain scenes. "Wicked, Wicked" is rated PG for adult situations, violence, profanity, alcohol and smoking, and frightening and intense sequences. If released now in theaters, it would be given a PG-13 rating. There are some bloody scenes with victims gawking wide-eyed out from the screen. Sexual situations are insinuated and include hints at incest. Viewing "Wicked, Wicked" is an experience everyone should participate in at least once in their life. It's tiring at points and will no doubt test your attention span, but must be seen since the concept died with this film. By no means is it a good movie. However, the event is worth the headache you might get darting your eyes back and forth from left to right to take as much in as possible from each side of the screen. www.ersink.com See more Read all reviews

Wicked, Wicked

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