A celebrated young figure skater living in London (Frederick) takes John Leyton as her husband, but quickly realizes she’s being stalked by an unsettling, towering man (Jack Watson). Stephanie Beacham appears as a friend while John Fraser portrays a psychiatrist. “Schizo” (1976) is a British slasher film that came before both "Halloween" and Lynn-Holly Johnson's “Ice Castles” by two years. I bring up the latter because of the skating scenes, which are really only featured at the beginning. It’s often assumed the slasher genre began with “Halloween,” but there were actually several films that came before it, starting with "Psycho" (1960) and including titles like "Dementia 13" (1963), “A Bay of Blood” (1971), "Silent Night, Bloody Night” (1972), "Home for the Holidays" (1972), "Torso (1973), "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" (1974) and "Black Christmas" (1974), among others. The conventions of the genre were already developing when this movie was released, such as the use of death, which is presented here in a way that generates more amusement than fear. The film’s worth watching simply to see Lynne Frederick at her best; meanwhile Beacham takes a supporting role and suffers from an unflattering hairstyle typical of the 1970s. There are some brief nude scenes featuring Frederick (and the actress who plays her mother), but they fall into the category of awkward nudity referenced in that Seinfeld episode. Frederick is certainly charming and attractive, though she isn’t quite on par with Lynn-Holly Johnson. The ending contains a twist that may have been innovative at the time, but most viewers will likely find it obvious. The film also suffers from roughly 20 minutes of unnecessary filler, along with locations that showcase London's bleak, industrial areas and small apartments. The fashions and décor from the mid-1970s are pretty awful, though you can’t really fault the movie for that. The runtime is 1 hour, 49 minutes, and filming took place in London, as well as the transporter bridge in Middlesbrough (opening) and the swing bridge in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, both a three to four-hour drive north of London. GRADE: C+/B-

Source on TMDB