KNIGHT OF THE PEEPER

Contemporary exploitation filmmakers that attempt to utilise the ingredients of the classic era of exploitation in order to create a modern exploitation masterpiece have a tenacity to end up with nothing more than poor imitations. However, one contemporary exploitation gem has proven to be the exception. Look no further if you want to know what that exception is, as Knight of the Peeper is the film and your eyes will be the victim.

Knight of the Peeper is a contemporary exploitation masterpiece that combines 1960's sexploitation with 1970's euro horror, creating a concoction of exploitive delight that we simply do not get anymore. The finishing product is an impressive, low budget masterwork that will titillate you as much as it will shock you. Knight of the Peeper is a sadist's wet dream and one that slaps a wall of filth across your face. It is one of those rare exploitation gems that endeavours to unnerve you with erotic brutality, and the outcome is rather maniacal. Knight of the Peeper is quite simply a certified flesh fest! It has the feel of a 1960's roughie that grabs you by the throat with demonic hands and throttles you with erotica, a million-tonne cargo of naked flesh, and a psychopathic strangler killing off women one by one. Knight of the Peeper succeeds where a vast portion of contemporary exploitation films fail.

The synopsis of Knight of the Peeper revolves around a deranged psychopath who stalks the young women of a suburban neighbourhood. All the women are warned not to venture out at night, as the authorities simply do not know when the killer will strike next. The killer murders his victims by strangling them with their stockings. Therefore, the killer is nicknamed the "Stocking Strangler."

Dan Dare plays the part of the Stocking Strangler, and he puts in a convincing performance as the serial killer. His aura of dread and aloof personality during the sexual assault on his victims is amazingly credible and unnerving to watch. He behaves like a true serial killer and even looks like a serial killer. The Stocking Strangler stalks his prospective victims, much like an animal looking for its prey. Once his victims are found, the Stocking Strangler surreptitiously peeps through the windows of his soon-to-be victims and participates in some good old-fashioned voyeurism. Once the Stocking Strangler has received his overdose of naked female flesh, he enters their apartments and coerces them to perform humiliating stripping. After more doses of female flesh, we get to see the Stocking Strangler doing what he does best: strangling his victims as they choke and beg for their lives, except this time there's an air of sadism surrounding the proceedings and not titillation.

In addition to the Stocking Strangler murdering the vibrant young women of a suburban neighbourhood, a depraved and heartless medieval knight is accidentally resurrected from his locked tomb and teams up with the Stocking Strangler to murder more sexy women. The medieval knight has a taste for torture and mutilation, and was a prolific serial killer back in his day. He murdered up to 17 young women by sucking the blood from their breasts, and we the viewer are even treated to some of his blood-sucking feats. Exploitive indeed! Except, rather than seeing rivulets of blood dripping from their breasts, we see the knight slopping copious amounts of saliva over them instead. Now the film really is complete!

Knight of the Peeper is a picture that has exploitation and sadism written all over it. The performances of the victims as they express their fear and terror over the prospect of becoming the next victim to the Stocking Strangler is surprisingly realistic. Their fright and plight seeps into your flesh like a vampire's fangs sinking into your neck. Not many contemporary exploitation pictures have the capacity to titillate and shock you at the same time, but this one does and it possesses it in abundance.

If female nudity were a torrent of water, Knight of the Peeper would be Niagara Falls. There is so much naked flesh here that I would wager that ninety-percent of the film is taken up by female nudity alone. The women are incredibly attractive and their assets are striking. If Knight of the Peeper was called Night of the Naked Flesh instead, this title wouldn't be much farther from the truth. Most of the film time is taken up by the female victims seductively taking their clothes off and washing themselves in the shower. The camera zooms up close to the nude action in case you happen to miss anything. The women themselves are highly attractive and perhaps the sexiest women you'll ever see in an exploitation film. Hot and sexy women everywhere! What more could ask for? Obviously more sexy women, but let's not be greedy.

If the nudity itself wasn't enough to tickle your senses, the lighting that is used in the medieval torture dungeon towards the end of the film is nothing short of astonishing. The red lighting and production value during these scenes is something you would expect only from a Dario Argento picture. The lighting person obviously knew what he was doing, and the finishing result was surreal and electric. Sadly, the production value doesn't hold up as much during the outdoor scenes. Knight of the Peeper isn't going to win any awards for its direction and overall production value, but finishing product is extremely impressive.

Dan Dare not only played the part of the Stocking Strangler but also co-wrote the script with Claude Anders. Newcomer Jose Sombra directed knight of the Peeper, and for a film debut, he is a director one should keep a close eye on. His direction overall is what you would expect from a man doing his first motion picture, but his embryonic talent at directing showed genuine promise during the medieval dungeon scene. The capacity is there for this guy to do some special stuff in the future.

Knight of the Peeper embraces a handful of striking women that should keep your eyes occupied for a respectable 90 minutes. Blonde bombshell Tatiana Stone plays herself and bares all her voluptuous assets in a scene of sinful delight. Her scintillating stripping and eye-catching physique in the mesmerizing red light of the dungeon scene is the undisputed highlight of Knight of the Peeper. Her experience in the softcore sexploitation industry (Sexy Adventures of Val Helsing, Apartment of Erotic Horror) and the hardcore adult film industry (She Swallows 13, Cream Pie Cuties) evidently shows, and her overall presence is mouth-watering. The other delectable females that are killed off by the Stocking Strangler and the medieval knight is the brunette siren Anette Durucz (Apartment of Erotic Horror); large-breasted, blonde bombshell Heather Polamis, in what appears to be her first feature; petite and innocent-looking Sativa Verte, also in her first feature; and Niki Notarile, who played a zombie girl in Last Rites of the Dead in 2006. Co-writer Claude Anders was hilarious as the medieval knight, and hopefully he'll write more luxurious scripts with some old-school exploitation in mind in the near future.

Knight of the Peeper was shot on video, but the 1:33:1 full-frame transfer is somewhat sloppy at times. However, the overall picture quality is clear and reasonably sharp.

On the audio side of things, the English language Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo track earns Knight of the Peeper top marks. The audio is free from any hiss and distortion, which would spoil some of the scenes. The overall score is fine and everything is easily heard. No complaints here.

Although the extras are few and rather predictable, they nevertheless are interesting inclusions to what promises to be a great future for Power of 3 Productions. The only trailer included is for what appears to be another contemporary exploitation gem, Apartment of Erotic Horror. Like the feature film Knight of the Peeper, the trailer for Apartment of Erotic Horror is ninety-percent female nudity and even has some lesbian kissing for titillation purposes. Darian Caine from Seduction Cinema makes an appearance, too, which is always a treat. The special features menu also boasts a reasonable-sized still gallery of various production photos and a handful of deleted scenes.

With plenty of sleaze and scrumptious female nudity, Knight of the Peeper is a winner in the modern climate of exploitation films. The entire picture is a throwback to the exploitation and euro-horror classics of the past. If not taken too seriously, Knight of the Peeper just might find itself playing your DVD-player for quite awhile. With delicious women exposing their delectable bodies and a hilarious saliva-drooling medieval knight teaming up with a contemporary serial killer to kill off beautiful women, Knight of the Peeper is a modern classic sure to satisfy your cravings. And if Knight of the Peeper and Apartment of Erotic Horror is anything to go by, the future of modern exploitation film-making is bright and one that we should all look forward to. 10/10!

Stay sick and happy nightmares!

Reviewed by Pryce