28 March 2024
The Pyx (1973)

105 min.
Directed by Harvey Hart.
With Christopher Plummer, Karen Black, Donald Pilon, Jean-Louis Roux, Yvette Brind'Amour, Lee Broker.
In between two of the greatest movies of the 1970s - Five Easy Pieces in 1970 and Nashville in 1975 - Karen Black starred in this lesser known Canadian gem.

Black is Elizabeth Lucy, a drug-addicted prostitute who's found dead after having jumped off the balcony of her penthouse apartment.

Plummer is detective Jim Henderson who begins an investigation into Lucy's death, but uncovers a deadly devil cult in the course of his investigation.

A slow, complicated thriller with an intelligent storyline - and some intriguing insights into Catholic guilt - The Pyx is structured like a film noir (a main character is found dead at the onset with the action constantly shifting back and forth in time).

Not for all tastes, but for the right fans, this is a wonderful mystery that's well worth finding.

Bonus for Black fans: she wrote and sings the pretty tunes heard on the soundtrack.

Also known as The Hooker Cult Murders.

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