Der Tote, der nicht sterben wollte

A very idiosyncratic little movie, NEITHER THE SEAM NOR THE SAND is curiously comparative to a Harlequin Romance novel, but spiked with zombie-horror trappings. A young couple's passionate love story ends with the boy's tragic death...or does it? All is seemingly rectified when his reanimated body returns to the waiting arms of his grieving lover. She is initially overjoyed, though it latterly becomes clear that he's not quite himself anymore...plus, the decomposition of his body advances, making the couple's intimacy issues rather unappetizing .

Reaction to this film will be scattered, likely with a stronger appeal to patient solicitors of singular horror novelties than to rank-and-file fans of zombie cinema. It's a subdued and casually precipitated oddity with some beautiful scenic location filming.

5.5/10...not wholly praiseworthy, perhaps, but a surprisingly poignant and refreshing deviation from the "same-old same-old".

The opening scenes of this film - Susan Hampshire walking out to a Jersey lighthouse where she encounters "Hugh" (Michael Petrovich) rather sum up the mundanity of this fairly dull romantic drama. It looks good, they look good - but somewhere along the line, the story just runs out of steam as it struggles to stay out of a soup of melodrama. Of course the two become lovers, and of course she has baggage - a marriage that no longer works, but when tragedy ensues they must face reality with a fresh, and frequently, troubling perspective. Perhaps the book was more evocative, indulged the imagination more? This adaptation really doesn't. There is little on-screen chemistry between our two principals, and the obstacles to their happiness all-to-often come across as contrived and over-played with demons galore. Frank Finlay - never exactly versatile - probably has the best character as his rather puritanical brother "George" but the whole really doesn't equal what ought to have been the sum of the parts. It's slow, stodgy and rather weakly scored with a predictable and stilted dialogue that made me cringe on occasion. Some lovely location photography, and plenty of seagulls - but otherwise this is pretty lacking on just about every other front.

Anna Robinson (Susan Hampshire) is on a hubby-less holiday at the beautiful Isle of Jersey, hoping for an escape from the routine of her dull lifestyle and perhaps a little more. She finds this in George (Frank Finlay), a brooding local who becomes her personal tour guide. The two instantly click and before long they find themselves in a passionate affair. She drops her old life and begins anew with George. Tragedy unexpectedly strikes, leaving George dead and Anna mourning. Her commitment to her new lover is truly put to the test when George inexplicably returns to her.

Fred Burnley's "Neither the Sea Nor the Sand" is a somewhat successful romance/horror hybrid. It's a bit too heavy on the romance for my tastes, though the relationship between the two lead characters is always believable and never descends into complete schmaltz. I would rather watch something like this than, say, "Ghost," which may have been influenced by this or the novel on which it is based. Another film I thought of while watching this was Bob Clark's gem "Deathdream" (1974). George's restrained zombie/ghost is akin to Andy, with a blank stare in eyes and a deep pain in his voice. Fans of modern low-budget horror may also notice some similarities between this and "Zombie Honeymoon" (2004.)

The main strength of the film lies in the characterization of the likable lead and Hampshire's performance. She plays her complex role with grace and dignity. I never got the impression that she is being punished for her infidelity or newfound liberation, which some viewers might think as the story unfolds. The second thing I appreciated most is the lush cinematography, which brings life to the sea as if it is another character in the film. The biggest downside to the movie is the score. It's effectively chilling during scenes of horror and suspense, but for much of the film it wavers between gratingly lovey-dovey and happy-go-lucky (complete with "la la las" singing over it.)

The film is never frightening, though much of it is unsettling. It does have the tendency to drag in more than a few places, but overall it's an effectively tragic love story with a genre twist. I think most fans of 70s horror would find something they like in this. The recently released Image DVD features a decent transfer and good audio.

If the director had not died in 1975,he could almost have thought of suing François Ozon whose "Sous Le Sable" ("Under the Sand")bears more than a distant resemblance to "Neither the Sea..."The 2000 work ,starring Charlotte Rampling and Bruno Cremer is certainly more satisfying ,but it owes a lot to the obscure (at least in France) screenwriters of this movie.

Direction is amateurish ,and it's really a pity because there were potentially great scenes ,particularly this one when Susan Hampshire keeps on repeating in the car "Talk to me!Don't look at me that way!"There's also a good use of E.Browning's poem ("I shall but love thee better after death").Puritanism shows in the first half:George's brother makes Anna realize she is not really the welcome in the house.The woman says that "they were punished because they lived a life of sin".

The main problem lies in the fact that the "living dead" should not have been "seen " by the others.François Ozon did not fall in the same trap.People who liked this movie should try and see his work too.

This strange film is based on a book by a former British television newsreader and is a combination of love story and ghost story. The settings are striking and the music score effective but it's a slow affair and one is baffled as to what market the film-makers were aiming for.