The Pyx (1973)

Too tedious to call very good, 9 July 2005

The Pyx (aka The Hooker Cult Murders) is billed as a horror movie. It should probably more correctly be called a drama with a bit of horror thrown in. It's during these bits of horror that The Pyx becomes interesting. Unfortunately, the majority of the movie is devoted to the drama and is rather tedious and boring.

The movie opens with the death of a heroin-addicted prostitute from a fall from the top of a building. Other than sheer white lingerie, she's wearing an upside-down cross and holding a pyx (Not being Catholic, I didn't know what it was either. Apparently, a pyx is a small container used by priests to hold communion wafers.) The investigation soon points to something even more sinister than at first thought - a Satanic sacrifice.

The Pyx is told in two separate story lines. One is a flashback from the prostitute's (Karen Black) point of view leading up to the time of her death. The other is from the detective's (Christopher Plummer) point of view of his investigation following the murder. The movie frequently cuts back and forth between the two story lines. And while the police investigation is at least somewhat interesting, Karen Black's flashback is an exercise in tediousness. Despite being a heroin addict and a prostitute, her life is incredibly dull. It's during these scenes that the movie really suffers. If her life could have been made to seem at all interesting, the movie might have been very good. But as it is, the scenes of Karen Black walking around, arguing over dinner, and driving are just plain boring.

As I previously mentioned, the horror bits are very infrequent. Other than the final scene with bits of a Satanic ceremony, there's really very little horror. I suppose the scenes showing the aftermath of a couple of murders could be considered horror, but that's really stretching it. I'm sure that a few ardent horror fans have been disappointed in the mis-categorization of The Pyx.

Finally, I've got to mention the music in The Pyx. It's terrible. I've heard dogs howling at the moon that had a better musical quality. Most of the songs were apparently written and sung by Karen Black. While I've always enjoyed her as an actress, this is my first encounter with her as a singer. Hopefully, it will be my last.

5/10