Cover Girl Killer (1959)
** (out of 4)
A disturbed man (Harry H. Corbett) objects to sexuality being used on the cover of magazines so he begins to kill the women who grace those covers. The magazine's owner (Spencer Teakle) decides to help the police by having his girlfriend (Felicity Young) appear on the next issue and sure enough the maniac comes after her. Considering some of the elements in this British shocker you can't help but walk away feeling very disappointed. There's some interesting stuff going on in this film but sadly director Terry Bishop does absolutely nothing with it and in the end this 61-minute "B" picture seems to run twice as long. The biggest problem is the actual screenplay because we spend so much time with the police and the magazine editor that you can't help but roll your eyes for a number of reasons. One is the fact that the characters are all very dull. Another problem is that the actual investigation doesn't lead to any drama or tension. The biggest issue is the fact that throughout the film we do spend a little time with the killer and he's such an interesting character that it becomes rather frustrating when we go away from him and settle back with the boring characters. Corbett does a very good job at playing this rather disturbed and creepy guy. I thought the actor did a fine job at showing how weird this guy is but he was also good enough to show how intelligent he was. The supporting players aren't nearly as impressive, although Young isn't too bad as the "next" victim. I guess it's important to note that this film was made and released a full year before both PSYCHO and PEEPING TOM. Whereas those two films actually crossed the line in an attempt to do something new and fresh, this film here clearly just wanted to be another "B" picture and that's really a shame because the subject matter was an interesting one. There are bits and pieces of good stuff here but sadly they never come together. There's even talk about Jack the Ripper and how the two killers are connected but that's about it. COVER GIRL KILLER isn't a bad movie but at the same time you can't help but wish it had tried to be better.