El demonio

(**1/2 out of *****) Very strange and disjointed film (though, I'll admit, I think I dozed once or twice during crucial scenes) about a sub-human serial killer who uses razor-tipped gloves and plastic bags to kill people. The soundtrack is very loud and erratic and people are always screaming, which makes sleeping straight through this often-dull movie pretty difficult. It ends rather abruptly and offers little to no explanation for the killer's identity or motivation. We never even get to see what his face looks like under his mask. But, even with these setbacks, the direction shows some flair and there are a few frightening demon-attack scenes, especially at the end. Cameron Mitchell plays a psychic detective on the case of a missing girl abducted by the demon, and Jennifer Holmes plays the pretty blonde schoolteacher who gets chased through her house in just her panties in the suspenseful climax (I was wide awake for that part.)

HIGHLIGHT: The pretty blonde schoolteacher gets chased through her house in just her panties (what else?)