Dark Places

I have been looking a long time on the internet for this one and the only copy available is a DVD-r made of a video rip so I guess this is probably as good as it gets. And how good it gets indeed! Wonderful Hammer-style gem, creepy deserted house, hidden money and a tragedy from long ago that lies hidden in the walls. Robert Hardy (also active in similar flicks like Psychomania) lives up to his name of being an actor of versatility and depth. His transformation into the previous landlord of the house he has bought, is so well done you see his whole Shakespearian career in a flash. As if Joan Collins as femme fatale (and Jane Birkin!) isn't enough to make this a top notch cast, Christopher Lee plays her untrustworthy brother. So we are all set! I always love they way how Joan Collins manages to make being strangled look to sensual, it makes you think she has done it before - which she did in Tales From The Crypt but there it was Santa. And she did it again. When it came to the classic scene in Dynasty she had practiced this to perfection; who doesn't remember Blake trying to take the breath out of her? It would be great if this movie became more widely available on DVD in good quality.

As far as I know, director Don Sharp, from the same genetation as Terence Fisher, Freddie Francis, Val Guest and Sidney Hayers, did not direct any horror films, except KISS OF THE VAMPIRE, CURSE OF THE FLY, and this one, an haunted mansion scheme film, his first. Don Sharp was a damn good and efficient film maker, very professional, and he had no proper style. He also made some AVENGERS series episodes, as John Hough, who also made a good haunted mansion mystery yarrn: LEGEND OF HELL, same year as this one. Nothing to do, concerning this one - DARK PLACES - with the today THE CONJURING or SINISTER US films series. It remains British but so efficient without being really horrific. It remains more a psychological drama than a pure horror film.

This 1973 UK thriller sees Robert Hardy (who had previously starred in Hammer's "Demons of the Mind") play Edward Foster, the former Head of an Asylum who gets called to a patient's - Andrew Marr's - death bed, and ends up inheriting his house where a significant amount of money is hidden. This prompts certain interested parties to become part of Foster's life, namely a scheming brother and sister and the estate's solicitor; however, the house's murderous past comes back to haunt them all....

Despite some clichéd elements to the script (cynical townsfolk; noises reverberating around the house etc.) this is a film which clearly had a lot of potential on paper but it really doesn't get out of first gear until the last half hour when the central themes of the plot become clearer. The interweaving of past and present with Hardy interchanging between both Foster (present) and Marr (from the past) in certain sequences is hardly seamless and is patchily handled.

On reflection, the supporting cast don't really get that much to do considering that the 3 of them (played by Christopher Lee, Joan Collins and Herbert Lom) are all hell-bent on finding the money. Lee in particular seems to be more of peripheral figure than you would have expected.

Perhaps another thing to undermine it's psychologically thrilling aspirations is the script-writers' under-appreciation and under-usage of the story's more substantial "horror" or "thriller" elements occurring at night. It clearly dilutes the central thrills of the film.

Hardy does a decent job of portraying the gradual decline in sanity of his characterisation; and due to its little-known status this film might well be worth a look at, but to my mind, it could have been handled and executed a lot better.

This film is rather entertaining but the chills are pretty weak. However, it has strong leads by Robert Hardy and Christopher Lee. I bought this video for five bucks at the Reject Shop, so what was I expecting? Not much, obviously.

"Dark Places" tells of a man who inherits a house that is reputed to contain a stash of money hidden somewhere by the original owner. The new owner moves in, despite warnings from local people that the house is cursed, and enthusiastically begins hunting for the loot. Unfortunately for him, there are other people trying to get to the cash before he does, but worse still, the house really is haunted.

"Dark Places" is a moderately successful film that does a good job of weaving a mystery with it's storyline. The acting is also all pretty good, and with such star names as Christopher Lee and Joan Collins, it's amazing that this isn't one of the major British horror films of the 1970's, but once it gets going you'll soon realise that, as with a lot of other UK horror films of this period, the chances of something significantly exciting happening are pretty slim.

What doesn't help is having the lead character played by Robert Hardy, who, while being an excellent actor and playing the character well, just does not have the "leading man" quality required to carry the entire focus of the film. Joan Collinsd and Christopher Lee look great in their supporting roles, but then again, they always do. What does work well is the way the film starts to move between present day and flashback as Hardy starts to uncover more of the truth about what went on in the house before it's original owner died, and what the truth is behind all the stories of murder. The flashback scenes are great, and they reminded me the great things some 1970's films from the UK could do with a period setting. Look out for a fantastic cameo from Jean Marsh as the wife in the flashbacks, although many men may be more entranced by the young Jane Birkin as the governess, even though she doesn't do very much.

Sadly there's no real meat on this bony story, but it does have a couple of mildly grisly scenes and a kind of surprise ending, so it's fairly enjoyable.