THAT MAN IN HIGH-HEELS JUST TRIED TO KILL ME!!!

Horroryearbook’s list of The Top 15 TRANSEXUAL KILLER MOVIES
By GARY G.

Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho not only jumpstarted the modern horror film, it also introduced a new kind of villain to movie audiences – the transexual killer. The climactic image of a crazed, knife wielding Norman Bates, dressed up like mommy was a perverse shock for the conservative movies audiences of the early sixties. Infused with the kind of psycho-sexual undercurrents that shockmeister filmmakers love to exploit, the Trans-Killer sub-genre grew out of the matchbook psychobabble on serial killers that began to proliferate after Psycho’s success and the sensational true life crimes of crazy fuckers like Ed Gein and the Zodiac Killer. So movie villains of classic bygone horror films, the mischievous dandies, megalomaniacal super villains and supernatural creatures , were no longer effective. The modern day boogeyman was the next door neighbor that volunteered at the church picnic but kept a collection of prostitute torsos in his basement freezer. This idea of the duality of the psycho killer is what Psycho wrought and it is what the Trans-Killer sub-genre is, essentially, powered by. What better way to dramatize the split mind of the psychopath than to have a killer who cant even reconcile their own gender.

PSYCHO opened the door and suddenly villainous trannies became very popular. One of the earliest, and best transsexual villains was in the 1968 Japanese cult film BLACK LIZARD. Drag Artist Akihiro Miwa made a grand super villain, dressed in flowing chiffon and twirling about with every dramatic gesture. The Hammer film DR. JEYKLL AND SISTER HYDE (1971) had Ralph Bates turning into Martine Beswick with the aide of an elixir made from the female hormones of murdered prostitutes. Naturally, Sister Hyde is even more evil and sadistic than her crazed alter ego. Audiences also had to endure the horrifying sight of Rod Steiger dressed in drag in the brilliant black comic thriller, NO WAY TO TREAT A LADY (1968). Steiger’s drag act was just one of his serial killers’ hammy disguises. But the truly brutal psycho tranny started to appear in movies like BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS (1970), and FREEBIE AND THE BEAN (1974). In Dolls, the flamboyant record producer Z-MAN, played with vile glee by John LaZar, goes on a sudden, shockingly violent rampage and murders everyone at a sleazy Hollywood orgy when his “secret” is exposed. And Richard Rush’s Freebie and the Bean has James Caan getting his ass whooped in a ladies restroom by a vicious, cross dressing killer played by Christopher Morley. Most often the transsexual killer is revealed in a cheap twist at a films climax. As in one of my favorite bad slasher movies FATAL GAMES (1984), where a conveniently placed newspaper reveals the killers true identity to his/her final victim. And sometimes the tranny killer twist can be a complete surprise as in one of Roger Corman’s best, cheap, late night cable thrillers STRIPPED TO KILL (1987).

The films in this sub-genre span the varying levels of the cinematic quality. Oscar winning filmmakers, schlock purveyors and many a nobody have all had a go at the tranny killer theme. Admitedly, these films are not politically correct and in some cases they are downright offensive to transgender people. But, political correctness aside, they do, in some cases, successfully exploit the uncomfortable feelings most people still have about gender and sexuality. For the lazy writer the transsexual angle is an easy way to dramatize a killers dual personality and exploit an audiences ingrained prejudices and fears and touch on certain undercurrents of misogyny and homophobia that are uncomfortable but can also make for disturbing and gripping filmmaking.

So, though no one asked or was looking for it, here is Horroryearbook’s list of the TOP 15 TRANSEXUAL KILLER MOVIES as decided by me, Gary G, the worlds foremost transsexual killer movie expert.

SPOLIER ALERT: Be advised that the transsexual angle in some of these films comprises that films twist ending. Most of the listed titles are well known to the casual horror fan but some titles are relatively obscure. I won’t reveal any clues to the identity of the trans-killer in any movie but if you see a title listed here you will know that the film has a transsexual twist to it. Fair-Warning.

15. TERROR FIRMER (1999) Sick. Twisted. Perverted. Disgusting. It’s Troma. The venerable Lloyd Kaufman directs one of Troma’s best latter year films. A psychopathic tranny, played with no shame by Wil Keenan, is slaughtering the crew of some crappy low-budget movie. Dismemberments, castrations, genital mutilations, fetus’ ripped from the womb and every conceivable bodily fluid are just some of the cinematic offenses offered up by Kaufman and team, which includes co-screenwriter Douglas Buck who is known more for his artsy short horror films Home and Cutting Moments.

Terror Firmer is total gross-out splatstick so it’s in no way scary but that’s not the point. The trans-killer here is just part of the perverted wallpaper. But he/she remains one of the most vile villains in recent memory. Not for the squeamish, as if I had to say that.

14. UNHINGED (1982) Three stupid college coeds’ car breaks down in the middle of nowhere and they end up taking shelter in a huge, dark, rambling mansion inhabited by an elderly, aristocratic snob and her tightly wound daughter. Those coeds end up in an unfortunate way. But I saw that coming. It’s an early eighties slasher movie! What I didn’t see coming was the suddenly out of nowhere transsexual twist that ends this crazy fucking movie. Once one of Britain’s Video Nasties, Unhinged had a small rep overseas but sat mostly ignored on video store shelves in the states. So this films transsexual twist was well guarded when I finally found my way to it in the mid nineties. The murders are nasty and bloody and director Don Gronquist gives the film a nice, poverty row, gothic feel but, to be honest, this movie is as slow as a geriatric bowel movement. So the trans twist at the films end is a nice jolt after the nap you will invariably wake up from. The definite whiff of misogyny in the final brutal murder gives the ending a shocking punch. You simply aren’t expecting it from what has been a by the numbers slasher.

13. VULTURES (1983) An utterly forgotten camp fest with sub tv movie production values, unintentional comedy, horribly benumbed acting and starring the trash-horror-movie tri-fecta of Stuart Whitman, Yvonne DeCarlo, and Aldo Ray. Vultures still manages to be one of the most entertaining crappy slasher movies on this list. A wealthy old man dies and the heirs to his fortune start to get butchered one by one. Like Unhinged this movie is filled with very bloody murders, and it’s trans twist is a big surprise but Vultures is fun in a way that Unhinged never is. While it kind of looks like an old episode of Colombo, the mystery of WHO is killing off the heirs to the family fortune is very good, resulting in an ending that is as hilarious as it is surprising. And a very well known entertainer makes a cameo that you won’t forget.

12. William Castle’s HOMICIDAL (1961) was the first post-Psycho rip-off. Castle shamelessly borrows the Hitchcock films prologue of the icy blond temptress on the run from the law. But here it is the blond temptress, played by Jean Arliss, who is the psycho, murdering anyone who comes between her and her horrible secret. Can you figure out that secret? Huh. I’ll give you TWO guesses. While the secret may be utterly obvious to anyone with halfway decent eyesight Castle’s film is totally enjoyable and quite spooky at times. Castle was a huckster but he was good at crafting a successful suspense scene. You should also check out his underrated spook-fest The Night Walker. No trannies in it but its scary as hell anyway.

11. REFLECTION OF FEAR (1973) An atmospheric, sad, disturbing, 70’s psycho-thriller that has been overlooked for decades. There is a trans-twist here that, like many of these films, seems to come out of nowhere. But that does not distract from what is such an unsettling and suspenseful horror-thriller. Robert Shaw returns to his home town with his new wife, played by Sally Kellerman.

His ex-wife and mother in law are raising the daughter he barely knows in relative cloister in a huge, dark, mansion. A series are of shocking murders follows. Filled with shadowy cinematography by the great Lazlo Kovacs, great performances, eerie atmosphere and loaded with all kinds of Freudian psycho-drama, Reflections of Fear is a film that should have a bigger following than it does.

10. Dario Argento’s 4 FLIES ON GREY VELVET (1971) is the typical Psycho-inspired, Italian giallo. It also offers up one of the most stupid motives in a sub-genre brimming with dumb motives. The trans-killer element is actually well hidden so it’s revelation is kind of a surprise but, again, the killers excuse for his rampage is all kinds of WTF. But Argento’s stylistic command and grotesque flourishes make this a very strong giallo. Shamefully 4 Flies remains unseen to many horror fans because it has never had an official video or DVD release in the states. It’s pretty easy to find a bootleg and I’m sure it will find it’s way to DVD eventually.

9. THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (1990) This now classic, Oscar winning thriller is an arguable choice for this list. The trans twist is a minor point of the story of Buffalo Bill, the hulking, retarded, psycho who is making a lady suit out of real female flesh. We never really see Bill wearing that suit or even really see him kill anyone. But Silence of the Lambs is on this list because of one scene and one scene only. You know which one I’m talking about. It has haunted my own personal nightmares for years and I’m sure I’m not the only one. BUFFALO BILL’S DRESS UP SCENE! As the senator’s daughter tries to lure Precious, the dog, into the pit where she’s imprisoned, Buffalo Bill pretties himself up; fingering his pierced nipples, coloring his chapped lips, whispering “will you FUCK ME”, prancing around with his dick tucked between his legs, while wearing sheer light blue stockings and a giant multicolored cape, dancing to the techno thump of the song “Goodbye Horses” by Q Lazzarus. A sequence of such derange brilliance that it alone justified Jonathan Demme’s Oscar for Best Director. EWWWWWWWWWWWWW.

8. PRIVATE PARTS (1972) Here is some more cinematic EWWWWWWWWWW. Paul Bartel’s creepy, intensely weird, perverted comic-thriller Private Parts. A slutty runaway ends up at her crazy Aunt Martha’s Skid Row flop house. A macabre assortment of oddballs and lowlifes and one vicious slasher killer also reside at the decrepit flea pit. It ends with one of the most depraved sex encounters I’ve ever seen in a non-porno.

Bartel does wonders in creating a kinky, debased world of cretins and the bizarre world they live in. Although black comedy reigns Private Parts nevertheless left me feeling disgusted and horrified. The trans killer twist is one of the odd surprises of this film so I’ll let you figure it out. See it NOW.

7. DEADLY BLESSING (1981) Set among the Hittite clan of the Amish Wes Craven’s Deadly Blessing concerns an Incubus, or evil sprit, that seems to be responsible for several grisly murders. Ernest Borgnine, as the patriarch of a Hittite family, believes the Incubus is the widow of his recently deceased son, who left the clan to marry her. The widows girlfriends, one played by a young, pre-insanity Sharon Stone, arrive to offer their support to their bereaved friend. They end up terrorized by The Incubus as well. What, or who, The Incubus, is is a real surprise. Yes there is a trans-killer twist involved here but you just have to experience the shocking revelation for yourself. It’s pretty out there but that shouldn’t detract from what is a very scary, suspenseful early shocker from Craven. He is a master at building terror filled atmosphere and he does that quite admirably in this film. Don’t let the bad reviews deter you.

6. HE LIVES BY NIGHT (1982) This Hong Kong film is an odd duck because not only is it a bloody, slasher film but it’s also a pretty funny slapstick romantic comedy on top of it. It also features one of the most brutal trans killers in any movie. The trans-killer here is slashing any woman he/she sees wearing white stockings for a reason that is as dumb as any in these movies. His/her weapon of choice, a box cutter. And he/she uses it with a sickeningly brutality that may make some uncomfortable. Director Po-Chich Leong has obviously modeled the kill scenes in his film after many Italian giallo. The first murder has the victim walking down a dark alley and getting caught up in silk sheets that are hanging out to dry. Suddenly the trans-killer starts slicing through the sheets with that box cutter until he/she gets to the screaming victim, slices her to shreds then rips her white stockings off and strangles her with them. The best sequence, though, has the killer following two dippy girls home. While one of the girls takes a bath the other finds herself attacked by the killer. While the bathing girl is singing in the tub she fails to hear the screams of her girlfriend who is being sliced by that box cutter. The victim manages to get to the bathroom and collapses inside the doorway. The killer finishes her off as her friend lies cowering behind the shower curtain. The killer then enters the bathroom and the bathing girl slinks under the bath water as the killer then approaches the tub and…..washes his/her hands in the water the girl is hiding under. This sequence alone is worth it but He Lives By Night is one of the few films that actually manages to handle it’s horror elements and the comedic bits evenly. For every horrific, brutal murder there is some slapstick nonsense involving the overweight detective investigating the murders and the radio DJ that he has a crush on who will eventually end up attracting the trans-killer. For an example don’t miss the scene towards the end where the villain tries to kill someone with a 7Up vending machine. Seriously. It may be hard to track down but definitely put this one on your TO FIND list.

5. SEED OF CHUCKY (2004) I am still smarting about the fact that Don Mancini’s brilliantly over the top, perverse, black comic reinvention of his own Chucky franchise was completely misunderstood by it’s critics and passed over by the mass audience who would’ve loved it. Had they seen it. But it’s also completely understandable for a movie starring a psychopathic, split personality, gender confused, murderous doll to get overlooked. For those of us who got Mancini’s acerbic spoof on Hollywood, horror movies, serial killers and family drama, Seed of Chucky was a indelible experience. Full of gross out comedy, gory violence, and the performance of a lifetime by the great Jennifer Tilly, Seed was a complete delight because you never really knew where it was going. So when Chucky’s “seed” Glen suddenly turned into Glenda it was not only a shock but fucking hilarious. Every time Glen’s eye twitched as he slowly went bat-shit crazy I was on the floor in hysterics. But then I love twisted comedy. Seed is such a departure from the original Child’s Play that maybe folks just did not get that Mancini was in no way trying to scare anybody but was just trying to make fun of the genre itself. I and my friends Will, Lance and Andrew got it Mr. Mancini. Good job. The rest of you fuckers need to get with it.

4. TERROR TRAIN (1980) & GIRLS NITE OUT (1984) Two slasher films from the early eighties. One is now considered a classic of the genre. The other is derided by almost everyone. But both contain climactic trans-killer twists that are a total shock. Terror Train’s tranny twist is just that, a twist. The fact the killer’s identity doesn’t exactly match their disguise is simply used to throw the audience off track. There is none of the stunning misogyny of other films on this list- like GIRLS NITE OUT. Wow. Somebody really hates sluts. That’s the uncomfortable feeling you have after a viewing of Girls Nite Out. Set at a small mid-western college during an all night scavenger hunt, Girls Nite Out follows a bunch of sexually voracious cheerleaders who are viciously slaughtered by an intensely bloodthirsty killer, who is disguised as the dancing bear mascot that’s supposed to be cheering the scavengers on. I‘ll repeat just incase the retardedness of it didn’t sink in. The killer is disguised as a giant bear, complete with long, sharp, metal claws. And those claws do some damage. The murders here are incredibly nasty. The bear suited killer, snarling and growling, ripping into his victims while screaming “slut” and “whore” at them, just sick, I tell ya. And that’s what gives this movie it’s power. The misogyny in other Trans-killer movies is either indirect or just under the surface. In Girls Nite Out that misogyny is a focal point of the killers anger and the twist that caps this movie off. I believe that this is what turns many of this movies haters off. The movie is no slower paced or more ridiculous than any other classic slasher but the dancing bear angle doesn’t help. But Girls Nite Out is tense and scary and silly and sick. My Kind of movie. Terror Train, on the other hand, is simply one of the best early eighties slasher movies. We all know the story, some frat jerks pull a stupid prank on some nerd and a year later, on board a New Years Eve Party train the responsible party get picked off. And Jamie Lee Curtis is along for the ride. The trans twist at this films climax remains one of the best surprise killer reveals ever. It may not have any of the icky comparison between trans-sexuality and psychopathy that defines other trans killer movies but Terror Train still delivers all these years later. Its the kind of straight up old school American horror slasher film that NOBODY KNOWS HOW TO MAKE ANYMORE, no matter what they say on the video box, and yes I’m talking about Hatchet.

3. BLADE IN THE DARK (1983) & DELIRIUM (1987) Lamberto Bava’s twin gialli Blade in The Dark and Delirium, one at the start of the eighties and the other towards decades end, were essentially bookends for the giallos last act. Blade in the Dark is, in my opinion, the best giallo from the genres latter years. Set in an isolated cottage where a film composer is writing the score for a horror movie, Blade is filled with the sadistically violent murders of several beautiful young women who come calling on our composers attention. Bava does a great job of creating an atmospherically tense and genuinely scary thriller. The final murderous chase through the isolated villa is one of the most edge of the seat sequences in the genre. But what really comes through in Blade is its dark thread of misogyny. The killers hatred of the female victims is unmistakable and it makes the film that much more disturbing. Blade is a classic. Delirium, on the other hand, is an hilariously entertaining fart of a movie. The star of the show are the giant titties of Italian porno actress Serena Grandi, who “acts” the part of Gloria, the obscenely rich publisher of a glossy porno mag called PUSSYCAT. Her models are being slaughtered by a vengeful psychopath who then mails Gloria a photo of the murdered models posed in the same positions of her old porno pictures. It’s all a pretty sleazy, skuzzy affair. Filled with copious nudity, ridiculous dialogue, crippled perverts making obscene phone calls and more gaudy late eighties fashion than one set of eyeballs should ever have to endure Delirium has always been Lamberto Bava’s most ridiculous excuses for a mortgage payment. Of course, I love it. But unlike Blade, Delirium is never scary or suspenseful although the killers identity and motives are whole bowl full of woman-hate. While Blades misogynistic undertones create a unsettling atmosphere, Deliriums’ misogyny comes off as scummy and exploitative. The finale, which has the killer ripping Gloria clothes off and puking blood up on her couldn’t be more twisted. Mind you, I’m not complaining. It’s just that Blade In The Dark leaves an impression whereas Delirium is an unintentional camp delight.

2. DRESSED TO KILL (1980) Brian DePalma’s sleek, stylish, suspenseful ode to, or rip-off of, Psycho is really the absolute epitome of the trans-killer subgenre. It really should be number one but it’s achievements have been extolled elsewhere ad nauseum. It’s simply one of the best thrillers of the eighties. But what really sets Dressed to Kill apart is that it possess the absolute most, pardon the expression, killer, He-He!, looking trans-killer of the entire genre. Six feet tall, high heeled black leather boots, long blond wig, black leather gloves, dark shades and the slickest, sharpest looking full length, black, natch, leather coat. This tranny is fierce. The image of her hiding just behind poor defenseless Angie Dickinson as the elevator doors shut continue to send chills down my spine. And like that bear in Girls Nite Out, this tranny really hates sluts. As in Psycho, the explanatory denouement fills in the blanks for us. Because Dressed To Kill is so well made it ceases to appear as hateful as movies like Unhinged. But make no mistake, without it’s lush trappings Dressed To Kill is as darkly woman hating as any of these movies.

1. SLEEPAWAY CAMP (1983) Sleepaway Camp is not the best film on the list. It’s not even the scariest. It’s certainly not the most accomplished technically. And on list of great slasher films it’s just about a notch above MADMAN and below HELL NIGHT. But no one, and I mean NO ONE, who saw Sleepaway Camp back in the day, before the sequels and the internet ruined the twist ending, no one can say that they did not jump out of their seat, either with shock or laughter at that now infamous final image of Angela, our innocent heroine, brandishing an ax, her cheating boyfriends decapitated had on the ground, growling like a feral animal, with her dick hanging out. It seemed so out of left field. So retarded, in fact. The shot itself lends much to the shock and disorientation of the moment. Felissa Rose’s head digitally added onto the body of some unfortunately underdeveloped young man is really shitty looking. Sleepaway Camp is also the most ridiculous representation of an idea inherent in many of these trans killer films. That is the idea that simply because this “girl” Angela is really a male forced to appear as a girl, that he/she has automatic psycho killer leanings. There is no evidence anywhere in the film, and especially in Felissa Rose’s deer-in-the headlights performance, that Angela would even squash a bee if it landed on her arm let alone slaughter, like, ten people. The curious viewer then has to think back, the gay parents whose death begins the movie, the abundance of naked male flesh and the complete absence of any female nudity, the weird, insane, possibly transsexual herself, aunt who makes that poor little hairless boy into Angela because she “already has a boy“, the weird allusions to sexual molestation. What was writer, director Robert Hiltzik Thinking? Hmmmm? What is the point? Maybe there is no point except as a cheap thrill. But clearly the mind who came up with this had something on their mind. And that my friends is essentially where the trans-killer movie gets it’s uncomfortable power from, the ripples of misogyny and homophobia that keep bubbling up from under the surface. They may be crude, ridiculous and ignorant but the trans-killer and the transsexual killer movie do get under your skin.