Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Jonah Abbott There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Curt Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

jamesraeburn2003 A psychotic killer, billed simply as 'The Man' (Harry H Corbett), is targeting the fashion models who appear on the front page of Wow magazine. Each body is discovered wearing the same costume, in the same pose and the same setting as they featured in the publication. Inspector Brunner (Victor Brooks) reluctantly agrees to allow the magazine's owner, John Mason (Spencer Teakle), run a series of articles covering the investigation. But, Mason is none too happy when the inspector succeeds in persuading his girlfriend, the showgirl June Rawson (Felicity Young), to be Wow's next cover girl in a bid to lead the murderer into a trap. However, he is a man of great cunning and spots it a mile off so June's life is put in serious danger...Like so many of the Butcher's studio's late fifties and sixties 'B' pictures, this was a regular feature on late night television (ITV) in the 1990's. I was attracted to it because of Harry H Corbett's casting as a serial killer and I set my video accordingly. Like millions of people, I was so used to seeing him play the long suffering son of Wilfred Brambell's rag and bone man in the timeless sitcom Steptoe And Son that I just had to see what he would be like playing a dramatic role in a straight thriller. After seeing it, I reached the conclusion that what he did he did magnificently neatly portraying his character's cunning, resourcefulness, intelligence and the way he tried so hard to conceal his unstable personality that looked as though it could break at any given moment. There's a great moment where he goes to see the inspector in disguise as a wealthy landlord who claims to have rented a property to the killer. "What did you think of him?", asks Brunner. Sensing the opportunity for a bit of self flattery, he replies "a man of high intelligence, well educated and of very decided views" to which Brunner replies "Well, he can be all of those things and still be a psychopath." At this stage, he only narrowly avoids giving himself away as the look on his face would have done had the inspector not had his back to him messing around with a filing cabinet. Hurt, he replies "The borderline between what we call insanity and a hypersensitive intellect are not always clear, inspector." The psychology regarding his motives for his crimes is arguably simplified - well, it is only a second feature, after all - but it is neatly summed up when he tells his intended victim that the inspector views him as a psychopath and says "If wanting to give man back his dignity to free him from the lustful images, which foul his mind and his sanity is madness - well, I suppose he's right." Yet, understandably, the actor did seem rather miscast but I thought that audiences who saw this prior to Steptoe And Son becoming a household name probably didn't think so because the star had not yet become so firmly identified in that part. In any case, fans of Harry H Corbett are bound to love it and, in fact, his atypical casting here adds to the fun.In every other respect, Cover Girl Killer is streets ahead of many British b-pics since it was directed by the talented Terry Bishop who generates some nail-biting suspense - especially at the climax. Brunner succeeds in getting June to pose as Wow's cover girl, but the killer does not fall for it and sees the police surrounding the theatre as he goes to make his move. So, he retreats and hires an out of work actor to impersonate him on the pretext that he is getting an audition at the theatre. The police arrest him thinking that their plan has gone like clockwork, but June is now in grave peril since he returns to the place late that night cornering her in her dressing room. But, will her boyfriend be sharp enough to realise that this poor, unfortunate actor is not the man? Spencer Teakle and Felicity Young are both more than competent in their roles as the young couple and anybody who saw them together in Butcher's The Gentle Trap (1960) as a safecracker and his girlfriend-accomplice will see the remarkable contrast with their very different roles here, which will make it easy for you to judge their acting talents. Victor Brooks is utterly convincing in his dogged police inspector part (he was a policeman in many a b-movie) and Gerald Gibbs' b/w cinematography heightens the tension with a good sense of place and atmosphere.Available on DVD with Terry Bishop's Life In Danger.

Leofwine_draca For a B-movie made on an obviously low budget, this is great stuff. Made on the cheap, in black and white and as a supporting feature, COVER GIRL KILLER is a short, simple story of the police's attempts to catch a murderer and his attempts to elude capture. It's as simple as that. Blessed with quirky performances, occasionally ripe dialogue and a lightning-fast pacing that eliminates any extraneous plot strands, this is as good as a B-movie can get.Here, Harry H. Corbett plays "The Man", who believes that by murdering glamour models he is making the world a better place. Corbett would later go on to become one of Britain's best-loved comedians in the television show STEPTOE AND SON. For those critics who view him as a one-note, second-rate comic actor, I would suggest that they check out his subtle performance here, free of any of the gurning that later populated his roles. Corbett excels as the softly-spoken, quietly convincing murderer who, through his intelligence alone, has the upper-hand on the police force all the way through until bad luck spells the end for him at the film's conclusion.Spencer Teakle is the unlikely leading man, an odd-looking chap whose face seems to be in a perpetual state of amusement. Teakle's bizarre character is just one of the many highlights of this movie. Victor Brooks is the caricatured police Inspector, a world-weary chap who prefers sitting in his office and drinking coffee than actually going out and solving the case. Hammer stalwart Charles Lloyd Pack threatens to steal the show as a doddering, wheelchair-bound war veteran who reminisces about the old times.All of the actresses playing the '50s-era glamour models are convincing in their portrayals of vain, money-hungry, bubble-headed and supremely unintelligent women; every one is subservient to men, apart from the strong-willed lead Felicity Young, who predictably ends up melting in the hero's arms at the film's end. The glamorous, slightly sleazy (of course, to today tame) side of the film sees the actresses decked out in row upon row of skimpy costumes and bikinis; Young spends the end of the film being menaced in a bunny girl outfit! Seen today, this film has dated a lot and offers a perspective of things in the old-fashioned days, when murders were off-screen and left to the imagination. It's certainly a curiosity piece and is worth watching for the moral undertone and some of the dialogue alone, such as the following hilarious snippet from Corbett; "... surely sex and horror are the new gods in this polluted world of so-called entertainment!" he snaps during one of his disgusted outrages - and who can't deny that this is a thinly-veiled comment on the output of Hammer Studios back in its golden period? One of those amusing films which exploits what it sets to condemn at the same time, COVER GIRL KILLER is an interesting precursor to the more famous PEEPING TOM, and is a rarity worth catching for those who like their horror old-fashioned and proud of it. Check out the disguise that Corbett wears when carrying out the murders - his ill-fitting toupee and pebble-lensed spectacles make for a unique, unforgettable appearance! A thoroughly enjoyable little B-film.

Alanjackd This movie for me is very much a sweet and sour affair. One the one hand I think Steptoe and Son is the finest comedy ever but also I think if it would never have happened we could and should have seen Harry H Corbett as one of Britains finest actors. This gem of a movie takes all the naivety of days gone by with the age old story of a bad man who thinks the world is changing for the worse and depravity rules. Blitzed into just 60 odd minutes this was obviously made as a B movie but is a world above anything it was made to run alongside. If this was remade today it would have to be a gruesome 18 cert affair probably filmed in the seedy parts of London and involve drugs and prostitutes ( Harry Brown springs to mind)but the way they get the message across without so much as a grain of smut is incredible. Absolutely fantastic piece of movie making and seems as relative today as it was when made over 50 years ago.

didi-5 Despite only lasting an hour, this film about a serial killer who has a grudge against cover girls - a la The Lodger and Jack the Ripper - rarely flags and has an energy which lifts it above other B movies of the time. It also has Harry H Corbett, best known these days for Steptoe and Son, proving he could act in a serious role. He is genuinely creepy, chilling and calculating.In some respects this film also reminds me of Peeping Tom, also about a psychopathic murderer of high intelligence who kills by ritual. While that film was a straight A, 'Cover Girl Killer' does not pale in its company, and it proves its worth as a late night regular on TV.