American Gothic S01E20: “Strangler”

Plot Summary

After another run-in with Merlyn, Sheriff Buck conjures up the spirit of the Boston Strangler, Albert DeSalvo, to deal with her once and for all. But DeSalvo has an appetite for some other females in town, including Gail. Lucas goes off to a convention out of town, meanwhile, and Ben fills in as sheriff.

More Info: IMDb

Scene Description

The Strangler decides to have a bit of extra fun while in corporeal form, and is masquerading as a Janitor at the local Hospital when he sees Amy.  Later that night, she arrives home and is getting comfortable when the Strangler knocks, posing as a delivery driver dropping off medical supplies. He talks her into letting him in so he can leave the supplies at her place, and then strangles her from behind with one of her own stockings as she’s signing the release form.

The attack itself is rather brief.  She gasps, and then the camera quickly pans down to her feet as she’s lifted off the floor.  We see her kick for a second before the camera cuts to an exterior shot of the attack looking in through her front door window.  The camera then pulls away as the Strangler pulls her down to the floor out of view from us, and then the scene fades to a commercial break.

Comments

My favorite kind of protagonists are professional women, and I have an especially soft spot for Nurses in classic white uniforms. Amy is a gorgeous actress who looks stunning in this episode.  Seeing one of her character’s white stockings wrapped around her neck was an absolute delight, and her performance was icing on the cake.


Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan

Plot Summary

Jason Voorhees is accidentally awakened from his watery grave and ends up stalking a ship full of graduating high-school students headed to Manhattan, New York.

More Info: IMDb

Scene Description

Tiffany Paulsen is impaled with a harpoon after Jason finds her hiding place.

Comments

This movie should’ve been called Jason Takes a Boat En Route to Manhattan because 3/4 of the movie takes place on a boat… en route… to Manhattan. I remember seeing the trailer the first time and thinking, “Ooh, asphyxiated socialites!” That’s what I was hoping for, anyway… alas, such was not to be. Thankfully, this scene made up for an otherwise shattered dream of Jason snuffing out New York’s rich and beautiful.

Scene Description

Kelly Hu is strangled while trying to evade Jason in a dance hall.

Comments

I don’t know about you, but when I’m watching a movie in which someone’s about to get killed, I often scan the setting for anything the director might’ve decided to use to kill the character with, all the while getting my hopes up for an asphyxia-related death. When Jason grabbed Kelly’s throat, all I could think was, “Lift her up! Please lift her up!” as if trying to will how the scene played out. Sure enough, up she went, right up against the ceiling. The scene proved to be one of the best I’d seen in the entire franchise. Her performance was spot on. Once she’s dead, Jason just tosses her corpse onto the floor. I once read that was her getting tossed for real.

Fetish Elements

Throatlift

Edits

Most of the lead-up to her death is a needlessly long cat-and-mouse game, so I edited the clip to start just seconds before she’s attacked.