By Geno McGahee
The movie begins with a guy in a shower, getting killed identically to the first death in PSYCHO. It was shot exactly the same way, which was a good sign. Well, I could have done without the guy in the shower, but any fan of PSYCHO has to put out a movie that’s at least mediocre.
There are three different titles to this movie: CITY IN PANIC, 13 and THIRTEEN…but the most popular seems to be CITY IN PANIC and it is about just that. There is a masked killer going around, slashing up men with a sharp knife. The costume the killer wears is rather neat looking and imposing. They are dressed all in black with a long black trench coat and black hat. It reminded me of the getup in PIECES.
Dave Miller (David Adamson) is a radio disc jockey that isn’t afraid to call it as he sees it. The biggest pain in the ass for him is a sensationalistic journalist by the name of Alex Ramsey (Peter Roberts). Ramsey is one of the most entertaining characters in horror history. He has plenty of bravado and Roberts delivers the lines with a level of joy that I really enjoyed. At one point, Ramsey confronts Miller at a bar and when Miller tries to attack him, people hold him back. Ramsey, an older guy with a hilarious voice, booms: “Let him go…I’ll kill him!” I thought it was hilarious.
There’s another great character. He’s a homophobic detective that is just so over the top. While speaking to the lead detective, he begins screaming and then makes a remark about lesbians, prompting a female cop to call him a “dildo.” Any movie where a guy is called a “dildo,” earns a couple of points in my book. The worst thing that he does is when there is a dead body found in a public restroom.
A security guard thought that he was going to get some glory hole action, but when he stuck his prick through a hole, the killer cut it right off and then slashed him to death. When the detectives showed up, they found a guy hiding and when he saw them, he made a break for it. The insane detective catches up with him, slams him against the wall and says: “F*ggot pervert, you want your wienee pulled,” and grabs the guy’s prick and twists it. This is not proper police work in my opinion. It may be common, but it’s not proper.
The kills continue and the focus seems to be homosexual men. Dave Miller is doing all he can to help the police (not the homophobic one) track down this killer and bring him to justice, and he does have some success. The killer does call into his radio show.
This is a predictable whodunit, BUT the entertainment factor is so high that you will not be disappointed. This is an obscure gem for any slasher fan. I highly recommend it!
Scared Stiff Rating: 7.5/10
