Una grieta en el techo

Seeing that this flick was about a pervert kid I almost instinctively picked it up. Even though I was intrigued about the story-line, the expectations of this flick was pretty low. I was pretty much just hoping for a couple scenes of nudity, ya know, some bosoms. Not only did I get some bosoms, I also was treated with a decent lil flick.

The story's main focus is on a lady named Elease who's now the wife of a very wealthy man named Paul. Somewhat recently Paul's previous wife, Sara, accidentally died in a bathtub mishap. Paul and Sara had one child together, and that is Marcus, the original problem child. ;) Marcus, Paul and Elease are trying to begin a new life together, but not all is going so smoothly and things begin heading down the wrong path.

The Night Child aka What the Peeper Saw was definitely a neat little flick, that surprised me on a few accounts. With only three main characters really, and what seems to be moderate acting abilities in all, the film still managed to keep the viewer (me) interested in what the next scene would bring. Elease and Marcus lead the show. With Elease's beautiful face and ability to keep the viewer (me) waiting for more nudity, she did a fine job with her respective role. But the kid who played Marcus did a very good job as the weirdo, neurotic lead. His mature, intellectual approach really was well-done and pretty damn entertaining. Even though he felt robotic at times, it seemed to add to his weirdass vibe.

With a story that involves a bizarre little kid, and where you're second guessing his motives and his behavior, and a lead actress who is gorgeous, you've got the makings of a very good film. The pacing does have it's problems and some scenes do go on for a tad too long, but overall The Night Child was a nice surprise.

I first saw OLIVER! six years ago, and I knew that the angelic-looking young actor playing the title role had to be the greatest child actor ever, and I was absolutely right. I have never seen a more bright and talented young actor. Lester is truly amazing. Right after I saw the film, I started seeking out other Mark Lester titles. The first and best I came across is the 1971 chiller, NIGHT CHILD, in which Mark gives what may very well be the greatest performance ever given by a child actor. Lester plays Marcus, a disturbed young boy who may have murdered his mother, and he may have similar plans for his father's new wife. I won't say anything more about the plot, but I will say that Mark Lester's performance is magnificent. He proves that he is the most skilled and versatile actor ever. It's unfortunate that this film isn't more well-known, but Lester's strong performance makes it something really special. It isn't likely that you"ll find the film in your local video store, but if you ever get the opportunity to see it, don't miss out!

Its a well directed movie and needless to say it must have been a tight rope-walking to handle the taboo subject which must been akin to playing with fireball given the fact that movie debuted on screens way back in 1972. The movie seems more of psychological thriller as it involves quite a bit of mind-games.

Mark Lester as Marcus does a wonderful job. His character seems more like Damien from The Omen and gets to mouth intelligent lines. He looked on higher side for being portrayed aged twelve.

Britt Ekland gets the meaty bit of the role. Portrays the dilemma of the character quite well. Though the character of Elise starts off as a compassionate mother but as the movie progresses it evolves to be victim of Marcus and then leading to inquisitive wife attempting to unearth the truth.

Hardy Kruger seemed to have underplayed the of role of Paul as torn between the two ends. Otherwise his character had a variety of dimensions to it and certainly could have elevated the grey shades of it.

Narrative begins to build up as the movie progresses. Interesting parts are moves Marcus and Elise to play on the chess board attempting to out-beat each other. The part where Elise begins to get clues about the death is interestingly directed (the jigsaw picture), though might seem primitive my todays standards. The vivid imaginations of Elise comes across quite okay.

And yes, the end was well justified so don't miss the last 60-seconds of the movie.

The basic plot of "What the Peeper Saw" is very simple and has been done several times before. The story revolves around a widower whose much younger and ravishingly beautiful new wife discovers that her 12-year-old stepson is a troubled and deeply disturbed kid. While her husband (a not-so-successful writer) is often away on business, Elise finds out that Mark has been expelled from school for peeping at young couples and torturing/killing defenseless little animals, and at home he cheerfully continues with lying, stealing, peeping, and manipulating. She even gathers evidence that his mother's death wasn't so accidental as it looked.

A typically formulaic "bad seed" thriller, in other words, and thus the movie needed something extra and much spicier to stand out in the crowd of early 70s exploitation shockers. Luckily, the British crew collaborated with several notorious Italians - and specifically Andrea Bianchi ("Cry of a Prostitute", "Burial Ground") - who knew a thing or two about controversy. "What the Peeper Saw" became infamous for its sequences in which the stunning Britt Ekland (29 at the time) strips nude in front of child actor Mark Lester (14 years of age), passionately kisses him, and crawls into bed naked next to him. Without a doubt the ultimate wet dream of every horny male teenager (I, for one, wouldn't have minded taking Lester's place) but the UK's censorship committee was appalled - duh - and commanded to withdraw the film from circulation. The film became available again in a heavily cut version of barely 72 minutes, without all the supposedly perverse and provocative underage sex footage. Censorship people are no fun at all!

Controversial or not, "What the Peeper Saw" (aka "Night Child") isn't such a great film. Most of the time, you'll just be frustrated and yelling at the screen for Britt Ekland to get away from her worthless husband and his creepy freak of a kid. The build-up is also very standard, with the doofus husband not believing poor Elise and defending his psycho son because he went through a traumatizing experience. Yeah, yeah. Fortunately, the last 15 minutes are terrific with Ekland's character going completely cuckoo, and the script cleverly hinting that she may have been all along. And thanks to the abrupt and unforeseeable shock-ending, it comes fully recommended after all.

"What the Peeper Saw" is much more of a psychological drama than a horror film, or even a thriller. It focuses heavily on the antagonistic relationship between Elise (Britt Ekland), the new wife of an older man, successful author Paul (Hardy Kruger), and her stepson Marcus (Mark Lester of "Oliver!" fame). They initially seem to get along all right, but Elise becomes increasingly frustrated by this enigmatic, aloof kid, who acts much older than his actual age. She comes to suspect that he had murdered his biological mother Sarah (Colette Giacobine), and now has similar designs on her.

As directed by James Kelley ("The Beast in the Cellar"), you can't ever expect a lot of tension in this film. That doesn't seem to be its primary concern. It DOES have a sexual charge about it, however. Hell, the uncut version opens with a scene of nudity. The evolving relationship between our heroine and bratty antagonist does play up this quality. (Still, it must be noted that you don't ever see the kid indulge in the act of peeping on screen.) The single most memorable sequence involves the two main characters exchanging clothes for information, as Elise strips in front of Marcus in order to get some truths out of him.

And this kid is one truly cagey character. One thing you can expect is that the scenario turns into one of "he said, she said", and Elise is understandably flustered that she can get almost nobody to believe her about this bad seed.

Ekland is no great shakes as a dramatic actress, but she just looks so damn fine that some viewers probably won't mind very much. (She DOES give the proceedings an earnest effort.) Kruger is fine as the dad, but the film belongs to young Lester, who's quite amusing throughout. Lilli Palmer and Harry Andrews are excellent in special guest appearances as a psychiatrist and school headmaster.

The out of nowhere violent ending is downright hilarious, even if it's probably not intended to be that way.

The Italian version is credited to Andrea Bianchi ("Strip Nude for Your Killer", "Burial Ground").

Six out of 10.