Strangler, the (1964) (Blu-ray)

Ripped -- somewhat -- from the headlines, this dark and gripping study of a serial killer capitalized on the then-current (then-unsolved) Boston Strangler murders. The Strangler grips you forcefully by the throat via the skin-crawling performance of Victor Buono, fresh off his Oscar -nominated turn as Jane Hudson's would-be comeback partner in the macabre What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? Buono's schizophrenic hospital lab technician is fixated on dolls, which he eerily equates with his victims. But when he breaks his pattern and slays a ninth victim out of rage, that very fetish could prove his undoing.