The Appointment

This could have been a great film whereas the way it is, it's just an interesting one.

So little is explained, that it basically doesn't make much sense at all, but it's all done in a nicely understated manner, and builds up an unsettling, nightmarish /dream like atmosphere throughout.

I'm not the type that needs everything explaining in a film,but it helps to know a little as to why things are happening.

Acting is reasonable, although a little stilted at times, it's clear Edward Woodward is the most professional of the cast.

The end scenes are very good, and made me gasp, excellently shot and edited.

I watched this on a BFI blu ray, and to be honest it's not much to shout about quality wise, I don't think a DVD would look much different.

I am going to watch the extras on the blu ray and watch the film again with the commentary to see if there is any further explanation as to the events in the film.

It's fairly clear what's coming (the actual execution of that is done very well) but the journey there is immensely creepy and atmospheric. The fact that there are so many loose ends and merely hinted-at tensions (the relationships with the wife and daughter; the whole business in the garage; the opening sequence; the dogs) makes it all the better. Fine performance by Ed Wood Wood Wood and (on a smaller scale) the rest of the cast. I enjoyed it a lot, although it's very much the kind of thing I like! The Lake, included as an extra on my Blu-ray, was also very good, with Julie Peasgood and another big dog.

Unlike some other reviews, I didn't find this particularly strange or ambiguous - especially if you have watched a few classic horrors/thrillers from around that time. It is dated in the build-up, and could have done with some editing to keep the tension tighter. But without giving the plot away, I think it is fairly explicit about what is going on and why - and with a little thought, what had happened 3 years earlier. The acting is terrific, and the film is inventive in how it tells the story, making exceptional use of what must have been a limited budget with some lingering set pieces that I will never forget to boot. I would class this as a slow burner thriller with horror elements, based primarily around 24 hours in a family's life. A slow, sometimes very slow journey, but a rewarding detour nonetheless.

Well, this obscure, ultimately strange British chiller left me with more questions than answers. Mainly thanks to its very ambiguous storytelling. It's particularly slow, and very little happens progression wise, but I found it engagingly hypnotic. Loose or untouched story threads (which sometimes don't feel connected) come and go despite the plot feeling very slight. You could say it felt like a short story stretched out, because there was a real focus on filming techniques (lingering camera shots, piercing sound fx, intrusively uneasy music etc) to pad out scenes, but those deliberate moments really added to the disquieting atmosphere brought upon by the constant foreshadowing of ominous warnings to come. The style was giving off arthouse vibes, but those moments are extremely well executed, and eerily moody. Especially the film's opening and climax. I was bowled over by how well the latter was staged.

You know what's coming, but the tension holds strong and the imagery was striking. Hard to truly explain what it's all about, as throughout we get haunting premonitions and symbolic images with very little groundwork, but obviously it had something to do with the spoilt daughter being upset with her father (Edward Woodward), and possibly putting a curse on him. The relationship between the two is odd, even a little uncomfortable, but again it's vague with possible, small hints. It's one of those films, I think would work better on repeat viewings due to its cryptic style, and visual trappings.. somewhat a journey. I would love to see a clean print as it still remains absent from digital.

The Appointment is a genuinely foreboding supernatural thriller. Intelligently conceived, meticulously paced, it quietly and deftly unravels the disquieting course of events until the astonishing final scene. While it is set in a very ordinary, quiet English town, there is an almost palpable atmosphere of pent-up malevolence, introduced in the opening scene, and persistent throughout. Whether it emanates from a human being or it is something all together different, is left to your imagination to decide. Ian (Edward Woodward) is about to embark on an unexpected long trip to a business meeting. His daughter (Samantha Weysom), a musically gifted but peculiar girl who is overly attached to her father, takes it to heart when he has to leave instead of attending her violin recital. The girl is cloying and demanding, driving her mother Dianna (Jane Merrow) to the edge of impatience. The girl pleads with him not to go until his tight-lipped tolerance finally snaps, only to regret it and be condemned to a restless night. Troubled by his daughter's behaviour, and anxious about the long drive the following morning, sleep eludes him, until, finally dozing off, he experiences a pervasive disturbing dream. The inclusion of dreams in films is so often fascinating, and rich in symbolism, and sometimes the dreams can be portents or forewarnings that the dreamer should heed, but rarely do. There are carefully placed clues to caution him from taking the trip, from an incident in the garage repairing his car, to the moment, halfway to his to his journey's end, he calls home and is cut off just as his wife is telling him she had the same dream. She is feeling that something is amiss but doesn't have the chance to tell him to turn back. Although he observes a number of troubling motifs as he drives, he cannot make sense of them and continues on. Even an opportunity to alter the outcome, when he realises his watch has stopped and inadvertently left it in the phone booth after calling his wife. He returns to retrieve it, and proceeds on his way. Woodward is superb as an overwrought man who appears to have an unshakable feeling that things are not quite as they seem, and that his destination is also his destiny. This film might not make you jump out of your skin, but it will haunt you with an uneasy feeling of dread long after the extraordinary ending of one man's appointment with fate.