I was pleased to see so many other reviews here that felt the way I do about this film, it really is an obscure gem that deserves rediscovery. The story owes a great debt to "Psycho", but I have to say that "Crazed" really digs deeper than "Psycho" does in its exploration of the emotional horror experienced by its Norman Bates character, Grahame (Lazlo Pappas). There's a Marion Crane parallel too in Karen (Beverly Ross), a troubled woman who sets out to follow her dream of becoming a journalist. When she rents a room in the boarding house where Grahame also lives, she triggers a growing obsession that quickly breaks whatever tenuous ties Grahame has to sanity and pushes him over the edge, his life spiraling downwards into madness and murder.Grahame becomes a lurking presence in the house, spying on Karen in her most intimate moments through peepholes he has set up in the walls of the house. Every attempt he tries to make to reach out to Karen in a conventional way is met with awkward rejection, and this emotional isolation is the true horror that the film is most interested in showing us. Grahame also makes for a compelling character due to the sensitive performance by Lazlo Pappas. Beverly Ross is great, too, and these two characters emerge as doomed people who are similar, yet unable to reach one another. Although "Crazed" isn't a film where graphic violence is the focus, it does feature several murders that are quite shocking, not because they're gory, but because they're so realistic. The thing that sticks with you after the credits, though, is the stunning performance by Pappas, who convinces us that we've just witnessed a real person losing grip of his mental health. I was shaken after I saw this movie, and it still haunts me.

I would wish to say a few words about this picture.In late July, 1976 I was in Los Angeles enrolled in a summer film workshop at U.C.L.A.; while editing my documentary film "24 Hours at the Original Pantry" I responded to a bulletin board card posted at the school looking for technical help on an independent feature film. I responded to the ad and was introduced to Richard and Jean Cassidy. I was hired that day as the company grip in charge of construction.Together they had written, conceived and filmed a 35MM presentation short film of their story. The beautiful B/W project was an obvious tribute to the suspense and magic of Alfred Hitchcock. Directed by Richard, it featured his wife, Jean as the murder victim. This well crafted short was photographed very skillfully by a bright and talented Director of Photography named Doug Hodge.The original working title of this film was "The Paranoiac"; it was completed and released as "Slipping into Darkness" by a company called Jupiter Pictures, sometime in late 1979.Featured in the film is a very large house which still stands on Edgemont, south of Wilshire Blvd. and a few blocks east of Highland Avenue in Hollywood, Ca. Almost the entire film was set in this one location. This was the nature of "low budget/ no budget" independent film making during that era.For anyone interested in the nuts and bolts. The camera, grip and set lighting equipment package (Additionaly, I suspect some financial assistance) was provided by The Sawyer Camera Co. Cliff Sawyer and Jack Birns were co-founders of the landmark Hollywood motion picture equipment rental company still known worldwide as Birns and Sawyer in Hollywood, California. The 35MM camera package consisted of a Mitchell BNCR as the primary/ or "A" camera. The heavy Mitchell Camera was always operated on a Worrell geared camera head mounted upon an Italian Elemack "Spyder" dolly . An Arriflex 2C was used as the portable hand-held "B" camera. During the production, the BNCR was replaced by a camera known as the "Mitchell 205 Reflex". This was old Michell Model NC modified dramatically and updated by an Italian company in order to compete worldwide with the new and very innovative Panavision "X" camera.(only a small handful Mitchell 205 cameras still exist today) Even by present standards these cameras and lenses were great, but not very user friendly in terms of shooting sync sound in confined interior spaces. At that time HMI (Daylight balanced)lighting technology was almost unheard of and carbon arc lights were far to expensive to operate within their limited budget. Therefore, tungsten lighting color corrected by filters for Daylight situations and extensive color gel correction and tenting of windows for all the interior scenes was relied upon . The project was shot on the relatively slow Eastman Kodak Color Negitave film stock of that era. The "tool box" we worked with was quite limited and very labor intensive for the crew size.Despite the technical burdens and financial pitfalls which all small independent films faced and dealt with during the 1970's, I feel that this picture stands up very well compared with most low budget independent projects made during that time. Thirty plus years later, I remain proud that this was my first feature film as a Key Grip. I still feel the same way about my efforts on a professional level and those who worked with me. Without the wonderful insights and information handed me by the talented and patient Director of Photography Doug Hodge, I might not have pursued and gained knowledge fundamental to the worlds of grip,set lighting and camera. In later years, I worked steadily as a key grip, lighting gaffer and cameraman on many film and television projects.Additionally, the dogged determination of Richard and Jean Cassidy to see their project finished and out into the public arena was an inspiration to me. My professional life and career might never have gone beyond that 16MM editing room at U.C.L.A.. Motion pictures like this one were the training ground for many of today's "A"-list Producers, directors, actors, artists and technical craftspeople. My generation of film makers made our mistakes. We learned how and tried in all aspects of of our craft, to make a better mouse trap. Years ago, Key Grip and old friend Raymond Mario Perosi said to me: "Well hell, were all new once".I have not seen this picture since 1979. Now that I discovered the new title, I will look froward to screening it with the latest changes and fresh eyes. If you have any comments about this film or film making in general, please submit them here or via my listing on this site.Thank you for taking time to read my comments.--Dan Zarlengo

I can't imagine what movie the other reviewers watched as only one person get's killed? Must have been another movie? Yes it takes about 45 minutes for the first victim to be slaughtered but we have some humor and some sleaze to grasp first. This movie had a great Hitchcock feel to it, and a must see for true horror fans. No it's not the best movie ever but it's quality early 80's slasher trash. Some drowning's in bathtubs, brutal knife murders, strangeling, etc. I have the cover as well as a female is lying nude and bloody!!!I have the Regal Video version of Bloodshed and it was 87 minutes. Slasher reviewer gives this twisted fiasco 3 thumbs up out of the full 5. That means check it out!!The incest overtones were a bit much but the religious brainwashing flashbacks made me laugh like a priest on his wedding day. Enjoy trash cinema and don't be so critical you other reviewers!!

CRAZED is one obscure movie. It's quite forgettable and boring but not bad. I've seen much worse than this. While watching it, I couldn't figure out when it was made, who was in it or why it was made. I couldn't help but feel that this movie was made in the 1970s, not 80s. The whole cast is unknown to me. And the reason why it was made is even more obscure. It's not horrific enough to be considered an all-out horror film. But it's too gruesome to be considered a standard melodrama. The characters in the movie were all annoying, certainly the woman who's looking for a room. Talk about an unpleasant character. And the killer was such a loser that it's impossible to empathize with him. The filmmaking is neither this nor that. It's very conventional filmmaking with very little personal, artistic touches to it but it's not 100% commercial filmmaking because of its low budget. In the end, it's like watching nothing at all.BTW, this film is also known as BLOOD SHED. I wonder why they called it that because there's no shed to be found anywhere in the entire movie.