In the tradition of wonderfully grubby 80s serial killer movies such as Maniac, Don't Go In The House and Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, low budget shocker The Turnpike Killer is a relentlessly grim exercise in nihilistic horror in which numerous innocent women fall foul of a brutal, musclebound maniac who views the majority of the opposite sex as sluts and whores.
Bill McLaughlin stars as the aptly named Jon Beest, who stalks and kills his prey in New York, driven by the voices in his head. While Jon goes about his grisly business, a pair of streetwise detectives try to track down the killer using information from those fortunate enough to escape the maniac's clutches.
Made for fans of extreme cinema by fans of extreme cinema, The Turnpike Killer goes all out to disturb with scene after scene of realistic, no-holds barred violence inflicted on the weak and defenceless—and succeeds with flying colours. It's ugly, unpleasant viewing that packs a wallop like a lump-hammer to the head, and surely won't disappoint any fans who prefer their horror to be as harsh as possible.
Writer/directors Evan Makrogiannis and Brian Weaver handle their material deftly, coaxing decent performances from the majority of their inexperienced cast, offering up plenty of scenes of impressive gore (including one standout throat slashing), and employing a wonderfully grimy aesthetic and a cool lo-fi synthesizer score that really adds to the authenticity of the whole movie, making it feel like a genuine product of the 80s.
In addition to all of the ferocious violence, The Turnpike Killer also delivers in the 'female nudity and sleaze' department, with most of Beest's victim's being stripped naked by the nutter before being killed. Alia Lorae, as sexy victim Michelle, provides viewers with the obligatory horror movie shower scene, happily soaping herself up oblivious to the fact that her boyfriend is being savagely beaten in the next room, and Brenda Gonzalez turns in a wonderfully trashy performance as hooker Lollipop, so called because of her remarkable ability to suck.
The film does suffer slightly from a rather unnecessary prologue in which final girl Jennifer (lovely Lyndsey Brown), having narrowly escaped death at the hands of Jon, falls foul of his equally deranged father, but on the whole this is a very satisfying addition to the serial killer sub-genre. Well done to all involved.
Bill McLaughlin stars as the aptly named Jon Beest, who stalks and kills his prey in New York, driven by the voices in his head. While Jon goes about his grisly business, a pair of streetwise detectives try to track down the killer using information from those fortunate enough to escape the maniac's clutches.
Made for fans of extreme cinema by fans of extreme cinema, The Turnpike Killer goes all out to disturb with scene after scene of realistic, no-holds barred violence inflicted on the weak and defenceless—and succeeds with flying colours. It's ugly, unpleasant viewing that packs a wallop like a lump-hammer to the head, and surely won't disappoint any fans who prefer their horror to be as harsh as possible.
Writer/directors Evan Makrogiannis and Brian Weaver handle their material deftly, coaxing decent performances from the majority of their inexperienced cast, offering up plenty of scenes of impressive gore (including one standout throat slashing), and employing a wonderfully grimy aesthetic and a cool lo-fi synthesizer score that really adds to the authenticity of the whole movie, making it feel like a genuine product of the 80s.
In addition to all of the ferocious violence, The Turnpike Killer also delivers in the 'female nudity and sleaze' department, with most of Beest's victim's being stripped naked by the nutter before being killed. Alia Lorae, as sexy victim Michelle, provides viewers with the obligatory horror movie shower scene, happily soaping herself up oblivious to the fact that her boyfriend is being savagely beaten in the next room, and Brenda Gonzalez turns in a wonderfully trashy performance as hooker Lollipop, so called because of her remarkable ability to suck.
The film does suffer slightly from a rather unnecessary prologue in which final girl Jennifer (lovely Lyndsey Brown), having narrowly escaped death at the hands of Jon, falls foul of his equally deranged father, but on the whole this is a very satisfying addition to the serial killer sub-genre. Well done to all involved.