Private Parts

Private Parts is a 1972 American horror film directed by Paul Bartel in his feature film debut, and starring Ayn Ruymen, Lucille Benson, and John Ventantonio. Its plot follows a troubled young woman who suspects a deviant serial killer is living in her aunt's dilapidated hotel in downtown Los Angeles. The film has been noted for its stylistic mixture of horror, dark comedy, and psychological thriller elements. Plot Cheryl Stratton gets into an argument with her roommate Judy, and decides to move out. Cheryl steals Judy's wallet and, rather than return to her native Ohio, visits the King Edward Hotel, a dilapidated hotel in downtown Los Angeles that is operated by her maternal Aunt Martha, whom she has never met. The brusque, conservative Martha allows Cheryl to temporarily stay in the King Edward, which she considers one of the "last respectable hotels in the city". Martha's central provision for Cheryl's stay is that she not wander the hotel at night. Cheryl soon notices that the guests and residents of the hotel are very unusual. Soon after settling into her room, Cheryl senses she is being watched. Judy's boyfriend, Mike, arrives at the hotel searching for Cheryl, and is met by the Reverend Moon, an eccentric guest who dresses as a priest. Mike is attacked in an upstairs hallway by an unseen assailant, who decapitates him before throwing his corpse in the hotel furnace. Later, over dinner, Cheryl inquires about Martha's daughter; Martha states that the child was conceived via artificial insemination, and implies that she is dead. Cheryl soon takes notice of George, a mysterious, handsome photographer who lives in the hotel, and whom Martha allows to keep a darkroom in the basement. While exploring the hotel, Cheryl realizes there are peepholes throughout, some of which allow a direct view into her room. George begins to leave sexually aggressive notes for Cheryl, which progress to gifts of lingerie which he suggest she model for him. Curious, Cheryl steals the hotel master keys and has copies made, which she uses to enter George's room. Inside, she discovers a transparent inflatable sex doll on his bed, and numerous avant-garde photos of nude women lining the walls.