Wicked, Wicked

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Jens B "Until the goosebumps freeze" - 'Madness shines from his eyes, blood sticks to his hands ... his victims have no chance. Ice cold, according to a diabolical plan, he prepares his murders.' Where was "Wicked, Wicked", the first, latest and only thriller in duo vision in my whole life? The qualities of this film, described by director Richard L. Bare as a mixture of Grand Hotel and Grand Guignol, exceed the pure gimmick as a sales argument, as was usual with a William Castle production. In fact, the film seems to have been largely forgotten. From the studio's point of view, the complex filming and the endless post-production were clearly not worth the cost-benefit ratio. It's a shame, because the slightly Giallo-inspired crime adventure in an old hotel in Coronado knows how to entertain. Parallels to "The Phantom of the Opera" are drawn from the beginning, and an old lady accompanies the entire film on her organ. The plot revolves around blonde women who either disappear or are found murdered in the hotel. The investigation produces several suspects... We soon accompany the murderer, so the appeal of the film does not lie in the mystery of the murderer, but in the moments of tension that arise from the two perspectives. Left and right do not just run dully, but are arranged in a surprisingly sophisticated way: in monologues, the unused side becomes a flashback (which can then deviate from what is being told if the narrator is lying), symmetrical images are created and at certain moments the entire screen is used, which actually has a disruptive effect. The stereo sound is used as a duo mono sound, so each perspective has its own speaker. This helps to concentrate on the perspective that is important at the time. The film is carried by interesting characters who credibly fill the Grand Hotel with sometimes eccentric life, there is even a bit of comedy. In addition, the reason for the murderer's hatred of blondes is surprisingly dark and for a PG rated film, it gets a bit bloody. Conclusion: Entertaining proto-slasher crime thriller that has fun with its genre and uses its gimmick in a pleasingly well thought-out way. There could have been more Duo-Vision films. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/01/25 Full Review Harold H Poor acting, for sure. Photography is fair. But particularly grating is the sound of the organ, shown in split screen, which nearly drowns out the contemporaneous dialogue. Truly a waste of time. Rated 1.5/5 Stars •  Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 06/27/24 Full Review Vince V A very interesting concept. While the acting isn't the strongest and the editing is a bit messy at times, "Wicked, Wicked" certainly does show a lot of great ideas and tells a campy and gruesome tale, all while throwing in some comedy for good measure. Solid film. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 12/28/23 Full Review dave s Wicked, Wicked can best be described as mind-bendingly idiotic and is worsened, if such things are possible, by Duo-Vision (what regular folks call split-screen). This movie has literally no redeeming values…none. It's supposed to be a horror thriller with some comedy thrown in, but it doesn't work on any level. Since there isn't really enough content of value to be shown on one screen, the Duo-Vision becomes especially vexing, most notably when you have the honor of watching the organist play the film's music score, which according to the credits is from the silent film The Phantom of the Opera. Yup, that's right…it's true…you'll be watching the organist play the film score. Rated 0.5/5 Stars •  Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member Hilariously bad! The woman playing Phantom of the Opera on the piano, while making funny expressions, was definitely the top highlight of this movie! Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 05/10/18 Full Review Audience Member Boring, derivative slasher film; Tiffany Bolling sings the same song too many times, and the film's gimmick - Duovision - is annoying. Rated 1/5 Stars •  Rated 1 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Wicked, Wicked

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