"Violated" is a film about a homicidal photographer. Wait a minute, this description also fits to "Peeping Tom". Yes, there are many similarities - but also many dissimilarities - between those films.The similarities: Both perpetrators have a strenuous relationship with women. The crimes in both cases are caused by unpleasant childhood memories.Mark in "Peeping Tom" was used as a guinea pig for his father's psychological experiments on fear and the nervous system. Jan in "Violated" discovered that his mother's lover stroke her long hair, which triggered both his hatred of women and hair fetishism. He cuts off the hair of his victims after he killed them.The dissimilarities: "Peeping Tom" had the advantage of being made on a large budget with high-classed actors by one of Great Britain's most reputable directors, Michael Powell. The film was shot in Eastmancolor."Violated" was made on a shoestring budget by Walter Strate, his only feature film. Some of the actors were amateurs and they only appeared in this film. To be honest, most of the acting (also by the few professional actors) is quite unskillful. A reviewer on IMDb.com has, however, claimed that this adds more realism to the film. It was shot in gritty black and white on location in New York City.Mark in "Peeping Tom" incorporated his work as a photographer in the murders. Jan in "Violated" doesn't do that, although he kills a couple of his models.Mark is a handsome guy in his twenties, while Jan is an unattractive man in his forties.It is a matter of personal taste if you label this film as a noir or not. I think that Tony Mottolas moody guitar-playing expresses the loneliness and hardships of New York City's unfortunate residents, giving the film a touch of noir at least in the soundtrack.

***SPOILERS***Filmed on location in, where most of the places in the movie are no longer in existence, 1953 New York City the movie "Violated" is about a serial killer the mad photographer Jan C. Verbig, William Holland, who targets young women for their hair not bodies that he clips off after murdering them. It's a faddish that Verbig developed in childhood when he caught his mom with another man in bed stroking her long blond hair! Taking time off from his job developing as well as snapping pictures at "Earnie's" a strip club in the Manhattan red light district Verbig becomes infatuated with stripper Lii Demar, Lili Dawn, and tries to make it with her at all cost. Even going so far as blowing his identity as the "Hair-Cut" serial murderer who's already murdered and shaved or clipped off the hair some half dozen young women. While targeting Lili the deranged lunatic also has his eye on young blond and pretty Susan Grant, Vicki Carlson, whom he promised to break into the world of fashion photography as a fashion model!It's when Lili rejects Verbig's clumsy advances toward her that he goes completely berserk and strangles her only to blow his cover in being identified by those at "Earnies"" where Lili works as a stripper as the last person seen with her alive before she was found murdered! Bearly escaping from a police manhunt Verbig as mad as ever and forming from the mouth as a rabid dog makes it to his studios in Greenwich village and finds Susan there looking to get photographed by him and thus start her career, as Verbig promised her, as a top fashion model. By then the police got a clue, through hair samples in his clothes, to who the crazed and murderous psycho is and got there in the nick of time to prevent Verbig from doing her in!***SPOILERS*** The movie ends with a sedated looking Virbig strapped down on a bed at New York City's Bellevue's psychiatric ward being examined and giving a dose of truth serum by Dr. Jason, Jason Niles, in order to find out just what makes him tic. And also see if there's any way to cure him from his murderous urges that already cost the lives of some half dozen young women. Despite Dr. Jason's recommendation to have Verbig's life to be spared, by reason of insanity, and committed to a mental facility to be studies as well as cured of his murderous urges. Instead Dr. Jason recommendation is overridden by the jury in Verbig's trial who found him sane and sentenced him to Sing Sing's electric chair instead! And with his death also was killed any way of knowing how to cure future Jan C. Virbig's medically as well as psychologically before they commit their first and many to follow murders!

Who has ever heard of the director Walter Strate? Like directors Jack Copeland and Edmond Angelo, he is completely unknown on planet Hollywood."Violated" is full of weird tricks : obsessional bluesy guitar music, underground location in New-York like in "Killer's Kiss", scary story of a sexual psychopath tormenting and killing pin ups to scalp them, amateur dialog and a desperate final twist."Violated" is the first movie produced by William Mishkin, also screenwriter of the movie. After "Violated", he will produce sex exploitation movies but that's another story.If you love "Dementia", jump on this one.

The story follows the police investigation of a serial killer with a hair fetish. Lt Mack (Mitchell Kowall) and Det. Dana (William Martel) enlist the help of a psychiatrist Dr Jason (Jason Niles) who we first see checking up with one of his patients, George (Fred Lambert), who has recently been released from jail. We also follow the story of photographer Jan (Wim Holland) and Susan Grant's (Vicki Carlson) attempts to make it as a model in New York. We are also introduced to the world of burlesque where Lili Damar (Lili Dawn) is queen of the scene. At the end, Dr Jason reveals the causes of what makes the killer tick, and the film finishes in a similar way to the beginning with an encounter between a man seemingly helping out a young woman who has dropped some papers.The film starts in quite an arty way - the soundtrack is very effective - as we see the first murder being committed. The music is good throughout the film. However, the acting is wooden and some of the dialogue is suspect, eg Susan's over-use of sentences that start "Gee....". The film is grainy and in poor quality over a certain section but the film has a novelty value. At times it feels like a silent film with a gripping soundtrack and this effect helps, in my opinion, to give this film a cult/art-house status.