Did Writer or Director really hate women this much ?
Having just watched this nonsense on TCM it seems obvious that somebody involved in the production was a misogynist.
The "mystery killer" bumping off pretty women is a long established meme in the industry but the violent deaths meted out, slow strangulation, severe beatings even without the use of the red hot stove are all aimed at making the women mere objects to be used and disposed of at a whim.
It reminded me of 1972's "Frenzy" when Hitchcock could finally be open about making women suffer and die.
Come on lads, bags of swank!