The Pyx

I really enjoyed this somewhat little known Canadian film about a Montreal police detective hot on the trail of a prostitute's death. Christopher Plummer does an excellent job as the cop trying to find out who killed Karen Black. Black is dead in the beginning of the film ,and the film alternates between what Plummer is doing in real time and flashback-type sequences with Black going through everything that happened up until her death. Black is lovely and adequate in her role, and the point of view used with her AFTER she was killed was quite inventive. But it is Plummer's performance which really seizes the film and makes it into something more than a regular murder mystery movie. Plummer discovers by piece by piece of evidence that Black became the victim of some sort of cult. Director Harvey Hart does an able job with the script creating tense scenes when needed and alternating shooting continuity between the two story lines. The film should not be over-looked. The biggest problem with the film for me is the opening credits which seems to drone on forever and accompanied by the most boring film song I have heard in a long. long time.

Now that Im a grown up I'm beginning to appreciate Karen Black for the fabulous Scream Queen she is. Many of my childhood memories are of scarey movies I used to watch on TV and then not be able to sleep. One is BURNT OFFERINGS a very spooky Karen Black flick. I also remember Karen running from the Evil Zuni doll in the freaky deaky TRILOGY OF TERROR. So when I found out Karen was in THE PYX I just knew I had to buy a copy(eBay). I was SO disappointed. This movie...a sort of whodunit...although they let us know WHO did it and WHY...is sort of muddled, for lack of a better word. Because it uses flashbacks between Karens life and the investigation after her death its pretty confusing. We also know that karens charactor, Elizabeth dies in the beginning of the movie, so when we are seeing her sad life unfold we know how the story ends, and we can guess when the phonecall comes for her to go to a strange place that this is how and why she will die. The box captions lead you to believe they'll be alot of deparvity with sex and drugs and homosexuality. Well, first up...Elizabeth has a friend who just HAPPENS to be gay. Thats the big homosexual angle. As for the sex, I believe they show her with one "customer" (and then a scene where she strips for a potential customer...then gets dressed again. So no big sex angle there. Then theres the drugs: I belive we see Elizabeth shoot up once. So there goes that angle. In fact, the scene where Elizabeth is shot up and having flashback dreams we see how sad and lonely she is. Then when she gets the "strange calling" it seems she KNOWS something bad is going to happen to her (the church scene) and is prepared to meet her fate, because her life was not so wonderful anyway (although she DOES believe in God she tells us through tears). When Elizabeth arrives at the Black Mass there is strange eerie Satanic Cult-type music, that I would've run screaming from. It sets up a good atmosphere. Then a sped-up Alvin-and-the-Chipmunks-type track of Satanic Worship music comes on and it it SO distracting it almost turns a serious scene FUNNY!!! When karen dies the scene is so choppy that you feel CHEATED that you hung on for an hour and a half...they really should've done more with that scene! One * out of five.

Prostitute Elizabeth Lucy (Karen Black) is found dead at the beginning--she fell (or was pushed) from the top of a building. Police sergeant Jim Henderson (Christopher Plummer) investigates and finds himself involved in satanic rites, ritual killings and more. Also there are flashbacks to the last few days of Lucy's life to see what happened to her.

Interesting but very confusing. It starts off pretty good with Black singing (and doing a credible job) over the opening credits and throughout the film. Then it gets very involved, the story gets muddled and murky and leads to an unsatisfying end. To be honest I'm STILL not sure what happened! Also there's bad overdubbing of voices, poor direction and a hysterically bad score at the end which sounds like a bunch of Munchkins signing! The acting is pretty good considering the material. Plummer (a great actor) looks miserable and gives a rare bad performance. Black however was just great. It's a very difficult role and she pulls it off. I kept watching solely for her. So--if you do want to see it see it for Black.

Be warned: The St. Clair DVD is in terrible shape. It (obviously) inserts a new title (calling it "The Hooker Cult Murders"!), has faded color and jumps VERY badly at the beginning. Also the sound quality is poor and the movie ends a full nine minutes before it's 111 min running time. That may have some reason for me not understanding it.

Like Larry Cohen's bizarre (and wonderful) GOD TOLD ME TO (1975), THE PYX is an interesting mixture of horror and detective thriller. After a hooker (Karen Black) supposedly commits suicide by jumping from a high-rise building to her death, cop Christopher Plummer investigates and uncovers a strange religious cult led by Jean-Louis Roux. These scenes are intercut with events from the previous 24 hours, in which Black is encouraged by her sinister madame (Yvette Brind'Amour) to join the cult. Unfortunately, despite Black excellent performance, most of these scenes are plodding and dull, due to the fact that we know Black's fate. Also, these scenes are often inserted during the more interesting investigation scenes with Plummer, who also gives a fine performance. Still, there's enough unusual about THE PYX to make it worth watching. The Montreal setting with its mixture of English and French dialogue gives the film a disquieting atmosphere, and the cop scenes have an almost documentary feel about them. The badly panned-and-scanned US video release destroys Rene Verzier's camera work (as well as make one or two moments quite confusing).

Cynical detective investigates the murder of a prostitute, a case which has occult underpinnings. Murky, unpleasant picture with bloody deaths and odd nude shots of Karen Black (perhaps it's Black's body-double, for you rarely see Karen's face connected to the shapely naked figure). Christopher Plummer does a great job as the investigator; a handsome wise-ass, he's terrifically funny in his offhand manner and gives this a big boost. There's a bummer of a subplot involving a homosexual, and the damp Canadian locales are visually dull, but I did admire director Harvey Hart's structuring of the before-and-after storyline. Despite some great reviews from the critics, "The Pyx" just kind of tails off, and the credits hit the screen before you can stop scratching your head. ** from ****