punishmentpark 'Aroused' quotes from some big titles in film history; the 'shadow hand' running down the window from 'Nosferatu, eine Symfonie des Grauens', the shower scene with curtain (and the face that is behind it) that refers to 'Psycho' and the use mannequins that one may have seen before in 'Killer's Kiss'. I could be wrong, of course, but in any case director Anton Holden throws many beautiful black and white compositions of downtown New York at us, so there's the first big plus.Then there's the crazy story about another frustrated maniac on the loose and another frustrated cop on his tail; the acting isn't good, the lines are cheesy (most of the time; some of the ones by Djanine were pretty good) and the story has an equally cheesy way of 'evolving'. Some scenes are just (way) too long, of which the one with the black hooker is one where I didn't mind so much. There's some horror and blood, there's freeze-frames during the killings (with the dark memories of the killer's mommy in audio) and there's the wild wall-paper in the kitchen of the cop's wife... who could ask for more? O yes, there was some lovely vintage nudity, but I'd expected more.Well, I'm being a little too enthusiastic maybe, but it's an overall fun vintage exploitation flick with a terrifically merciless ending (indeed, that must have been the inspiration for 'that other horror film').A big 7 out of 10.

Coventry The "title" of this user comment is obviously a reference/tribute towards the tagline of the legendary infamous early 80's exploitation classic "Maniac". Like another reviewer already righteously pointed out, this slick and surprisingly grim mid-60's grindhouse feature could be considered as a predecessor and definitely a source of inspiration for William Lustig's later film. Both movies revolve on a perverted New York serial killer, whose identity isn't exactly kept secret, who sadistically butchers women because all of them are whores. Moreover, both killers still hear their mommy's voice and both have an impressive yet uncanny collection of mannequin dolls in their living room. Last but not least "Maniac" is mostly famous for its disturbing atmosphere of nihilistic brutality and the extreme gore, and even though "Aroused" naturally isn't that engrossing, it's definitely ahead of its time in terms of sexual and violent explicitly.Weird choice of title, actually, since "Aroused" basically centers on a freak with an aversion from sexual pleasure since he spent most of his childhood locked up in a closet whilst mommy received her sex customers. Thus he developed hatred towards prostitutes and prowls the streets at night looking for new preys. The movie opens with a powerful sequence, clearly inspired by Hitchcock's "Psycho", in which the maniac strangles a defenseless girl in the shower whilst experiences flashbacks of his dominant mother. A reckless rookie cop and the frank lesbian lover of a murdered prostitute combine forces to catch the killer, and particularly the woman plots a barbaric vengeance. "Aroused" is a pretty good movie for its kind. The script horribly drags in places and the jazzy soundtrack is extremely annoying, but those are typical and forgivable defaults in cheap & sleazy 60's sexploitation movies. At least the overlong and tedious parts always end with exciting moments, like when follow around a black prostitute for what seems to be hours only to witness her getting slaughtered nastily in the end. There's even suspense in certain parts and the dialogs as well as the performances are astoundingly above average. Heck, even the girls that go nude are all pretty attractive and that's a lot more than I anticipated. It's truly a shame Anton Holden didn't direct more of this type of raunchy horror/exploitation flicks (apparently he's more at home in the sound editing business), since most of them are worth bothering for.

christopher-underwood Gutsy tale with plenty of wonderfully shot crisp b/w photography. Strangely languid in parts (possibly to extend running time) because for the most part well paced, well edited and excitingly told tale of a sex killer prowling the streets of Manhattan. Great opening and first killing (and aftermath) and some of that power returns at times throughout. Novel attempt to give background to the killer's psyche whilst he's in the act and several nice touches make for an enjoyable ride as cops and prostitutes try to find the killer. It all ends in his lair in a fabulous scene with him returning to his room filled with mannequin parts, to hug his teddy bear but find himself surrounded by a pack of call girls intent on removing a vital part of his anatomy!

Punchinello Aroused is a moody hooker-killer drama and a good example of 60s sexploitation flicks. Short, violent, and loaded with discordant jazz, this is only for fans of the genre. Some of the girls are fairly pretty, and the acting is generally adequate, but if it were made in 2004, it would be rated R and star A-list actors. It's a deeper psychological look at the killer than your typical Showtime skin flick, but that hardly makes up for all that bad jazz; but it does feature a nice Psycho ripoff that gives its audience what Hitchcock couldn't.