Night of the Strangler

Night of the Strangler is a 1972 American blaxploitation mystery film directed by Joy N. Houck Jr. and starring Micky Dolenz and James Ralston. It depicts the story of Denise Roberts and her plans to enter into an interracial marriage with her baby's father; these plans are disrupted by his murder, which begins an escalating series of killings involving her brothers Vance (Dolenz) and Dan (Ralston) and their loved ones. The film was released under several alternate titles. Its theme of racial conflict attracted criticism at the time, and the film did not perform well financially. More recent critics have expressed mixed opinions of the film's quality. Plot In New Orleans, Denise Roberts tells her brothers, Vance and Dan, that she is pregnant. Dan learns the baby's father is black, threatens her and her fiancé, and demands she get an abortion. After returning to New York, Denise tells her fiancé she has lost the child. While she is expressing concern about her brother's threats, an assassin kills her fiancé. Once back in New Orleans, an intruder in Denise's apartment drowns her in her bathtub, then slits her wrists in an attempt to disguise the murder as a suicide. Weeks later, the long-absent black priest, Father Jessie, returns to the local parish. Dan marries Carol, who had previously been Vance's girlfriend. Several murders follow. After the wedding, Carol is killed by a venomous snake concealed in a bouquet of roses delivered to their home. The Roberts's gardener, Willie, attempts to stab Dan at the local marina, but Dan shoots him to death in self-defense. The assassin returns and prepares to shoot Dan, but is instead shot by a guard at the marina. Vance's wife, Ann, is killed by a poisoned arrow from a booby trap in Vance's car. Blaming his brother for Ann's death, Vance stabs Dan in the chest with a throwing knife, but Dan again kills in self-defense.