Manhattan Zodiac ‘77 Review from Astra United and Bounty Films!
A love letter to everything that embodies the days of ‘70s exploitation films. Picture the countless Italian B films which use the opening shots of New York. Bustling city streets, yellow cabs gridlocked in traffic, the sound of helicopters hovering over the skyscrapers, all the illuminated marquis signs flicking throughout Times Square. It’s all here in Its glory with Manhattan Zodiac ’77.
A creative low budget production which uses high style to surpass its shortcomings. A German production in actuality which may seem strange but no stranger than the many ‘70s and early ‘80s Italian productions where New York was the backdrop, but it was never really filmed there. Director Hedwig Schreck has listed their many influences and is not shy when expressing what movies and style they were paying homage to when filming.
Manhattan Zodiac ’77 is said to have been conceived as Andy Milligan’s Maniac and shot on super 8 film and contains nods to Lucio Fulci’s The New York Ripper plus sprinkled with other Giallo touches for good measure. The intro credits were inspired by Joe D’Amato’s Emmanuelle and the Last Cannibals (aka Trap Them and Kill Them). The soundtrack is also another big part of the movie’s aesthetic. Composed by Everett Dudgeon, I believe he nailed it here by delivering an authentic level of what you would actually hear from this type of film were it made in the projected time period of the ‘70s. The English dubbing was pulled off quickly and reminiscent of the infamous job done with Jess Franco’s Bloody Moon. Many other nods to films such as Axe, The Toolbox Murders, Don’t Go in The House, Maniac (1980), and Torso among others. The film quality achieved was meant to be akin to watching a release on an old washed-out Betamax tape.
The promo materials for Manhattan Zodiac ’77 are fantastic and evoke those feelings of old big box VHS releases with similar style artwork. I instantly get brought back to the days when my old local video stores such as Allan’s Video and Jumbo Video had horror sections adorned with old VHS big box tapes such as City of The Walking Dead, Deathrow Diner, Naked Massacre, Zombie Lake, Burial Ground, House by The Cemetery, Zombie, Cannibal, Bloodbeach, Bloodthirsty Butchers, Mother’s Day, Trap Them And Kill Them, Creepazoids, Video Violence, and countless more. When Jumbo Video first opened in my hometown, they had a literal space decked out in props similar to a dungeon dedicated to horror where you could walk into and view the horror rentals. Manhattan Zodiac ’77 just brings back all these memories and I am thankful for that.
Manhattan Zodiac ’77 tells a simple story about a killer, a cop, and two females who are prey for the psychopathic mother obsessed killer. All taking place in a backdrop of Times Square in New York. Once again, the director referred to the setting as similar to Frank Henenlotter’s cult film Basketcase. I really dig the thinking and concept that went into reproducing these elements.
It’s 1977 in New York and it’s a brutal time and place to live the opening credits exclaim. There is a serial killer (Henri Stuart) with a gleaming switchblade, aviator shades and a mother complex who is targeting sex workers in the big apple. The press has named the killer ‘The Manhattan Zodiac’ the police chief (Helmut Pratt) exclaims. A disenfranchised cop named Strkyer (Jurgen Raffner) is on the case, but the bodies are piling up with no end in sight. A couple of friends Eva (Greta Krauss) and Emily (Anja Bell) become random targets for the killer.
Amongst the bright lights, porno theatres, and laundry mats the Zodiac wades through the streets stalking female victims. In his dwelling The Zodiac is haunted by memories of the verbal abuse and ridicule from his nasty mother. The Zodiac has a mannequin in his possession which he converses with as if it was his mother. The scenes with the mannequin remind me of William Lustig’s film Maniac with Joe Spinell.
Manhattan Zodiac ’77 is made with a vision, love for the genre of classic cult/exploitation films, and for those fanatics who still relish in popping an old faded, pan and scan big box video tape into a VCR and pressing play. It’s films like this capturing and keeping a nostalgic spirit alive that generations of upcoming horror/cult fans will unfortunately never experience.
Directed by: Hedwig Schreck
Written by: Hedwig Schreck
Produced by: Siegfried Dreher
Cinematography by: Pascal Köepf
Editing by: Hedwig Schreck
Music by: Everett Dudgeon
Special Effects by: Wendell Köhler
Cast: Anja Belle, Greta Krauss, Helmut Pratt, Jürgen Raffner, Ilse Roth, Henri Stuart
Year: 2023
Country: Germany
Language: English Dubbed
Colour: Colour
Runtime: 57min
Studio: Astra United
Distributor: Bounty Films
