A Vida Privada de um Anormal

Although Hammer's output from the 60s and 70s was dominated by splendid Gothic horrors, their filmography from that period also contained a number of lesser known psychological thrillers—titles that were no doubt produced to cash in on the success of films such as Hitchcock's Psycho and French chiller Les Diaboliques.

One of the last such efforts to be produced by Hammer (before they turned their attention to making TV comedies into full-length features) was the intriguingly titled Straight on Till Morning, which somehow managed to combine murder with the more mundane elements of a 'kitchen sink' drama.

Rita Tushingham stars as Brenda, a desperate, dowdy young woman who leaves her home in Liverpool to try and find love and happiness in London. After finding herself a job in a trendy boutique, and a room to rent at a work colleague's groovy pad, Brenda begins her search for a man, but finds attracting the attention of the opposite sex much harder than she thought it would be.

When Joey (James Bolam)—the one man with whom Brenda might have had some luck with—winds up in bed with her blonde nympho flat-mate Caroline (the lovely Katya Wyeth), the distraught girl flees into the night where she chances upon a lost dog that belongs to Peter (Shane Briant), a wealthy young man who could be her Mr. Right. If only he didn't have homicidal tendencies, a bizarre hatred of beauty, and a very sharp Stanley knife...

With this interesting story, exploitative content, and talented cast, Straight on Till Morning could have been superb, but the film's iffy editing (which irritatingly intercuts rapidly between scenes), combined with director Peter Collinson's frustrating decision to suggest his nasty violence rather than show us the goods, ultimately means that the film doesn't fulfill its potential.

Still, even though the film isn't classic Hammer by any stretch of the imagination, it's worth checking out for the hilariously horrible 70s fashion and fun scenes of swinging London, Briant's incredible mop of blonde hair that steals every scene it's in, the hysterical moment when Tushingham goes into town to glam herself up only to return looking like a bad drag queen, and a couple of genuinely disturbing moments that include a surprisingly bleak finalé.

5.5 out of 10, rounded up to 6 for IMDb.

This is not your usual Hammer House film.

The Brenda character is perhaps one of the strangest in cinema. She's desperately naive to the point of delusion. Los in her own fantasy world of fairytale endings she struggles to engage in the realy of her new life in London. The dog kidnapping scene where Brenda transform into a fairytale character of her own creation is a perfect example of this.

The weirdness and disconnectedness of the characters of swinging early 70's party scene reflects the lucid dream like quality of the film. The film occasionally jumps to alternative scenes, sexual, ordinary, her mother back home, they all suggest that Brenda's decisions could have led her down a different path.

When it seems that Brenda's bizarre plan to find a husband is starting to pay off, she stumbles into another person's fairytale. Peter offers Brenda what she wants but in exchange he takes her personality, renaming her as a character in his own delusional fantasy.

What follows is a superbly sinister and uneasy relationship. The tension between Peter and Brenda moves between a kind of marriage of convenience, dark sexuality and childish fantasy.

A brilliant example of 70's British horror. Well worth a watch.

When this was up on The Horror Channel, it was Rita Tushingham's name that caught my eye, her brilliant acting and intensity laying down an intriguing gauntlet.

With Radio Times not even giving a review, or even a rating, I was worried that it might be dreadful and true, many could see some parts as such, especially if they had taken them out of context and not watched it all the way through. However, from its opening, it was obvious that this was a well-made and directed (by Peter Collinson) little movie.

Not only is it a good and interesting snapshot of swinging London, it is also a warped fairytale about a reclusive serial killer. Who's the beauty and who is the beast? Should we and can we be loved for beauty alone?

Describing the story is unnecessary; it is a shortish film and it's the issues involved, often psychological and deeply sinister plus the often imaginative directing that are the pluses. The acting of the leads Tushingham and Shane Briant are very good with just the right amount of every emotion going. The popular James Bolam also co-stars.

There is often a sense of unease, even during the less intense parts. Oddness also often takes a lead but never enough for us to dismiss them. The most intense, X-Rated (still certificate 18) scenes are disturbing rather than graphic but they still shock.

Unlike many Hammer Horror's, it remains memorable, the ordinariness mixing with the oddness plus the central characters making for an unusual and compelling mix. I enjoyed it.

Niave, homely Brenda ("A Taste of Honey"'s Rita Tushingham) desperate to find a man willing to give her a baby, leaves home to move in to an apartment with her "friend", after she back stabs her. She runs into the night only to find and kidnap a dog in hopes of meeting it's owner. Which she does. But life isn't romantified and has little use for idle dreamers. This is one of the later Hammer films, and i adore it. It's nihilististic, misogynistic, realistic tone is great. Well acted and suspenseful. This physcological thriller is one to see. On the downside, none of the characters are really sympathetic.

My Grade: B

DVD Extras: Commentary by Rita Tushington and Journalist Jonathan Sothcott; Peter Collinson Bio; and Theatrical Trailer

If, like me, you like your Hammer films to feature vampires and things that go bump in the night, you're likely to be disappointed with this film. After the first few minutes, I wasn't expecting Straight on Till Morning to be any good, but things do pick up; and once they do, the film does become interesting and represents a more than decent seventies offering, even if it isn't what we've all come to expect from Hammer studios. The film is set and shot in London and features a typically British seventies style, as the fashions and set design are very true to the period. The film plays out more like films such as 10 Rillington Place than your average Hammer Horror fare, and focuses on Brenda; a shy, irritating and naive girl who goes to live in London after telling her mother that she's pregnant. She moves in with the pretty Caroline, but begins to feel lonely and while out walking one night, spots a dog that she decides to kidnap. Upon returning the dog to her owner, the rather odd looking Peter, and telling him why she did it; he asks her to move in and she accepts. However, she doesn't realise that her new housemate is actually a vicious psychopath...

Straight on Till Morning isn't particularly violent or bloody, but that isn't to say that the film isn't disturbing. Most of the film's nastiness is implied, and while I wouldn't have minded seeing Shane Briant's silly hairstyle psycho going on the rampage with a Stanley knife, the way that director Peter Collinson ('Fright', 'The Italian Job') goes about implementing these scenes does give the film more of a poignant edge. The lead role goes to Liverpudlian actress Rita Tushingham, and for me she's just a bit too irritating. She fits the film perfectly by the way she looks and acts, but I found it very difficult to care about what happens to her due to the fact that I had to cringe during her every scene. Shane Briant is the other side of the offbeat central duo, and the most memorable thing about his appearance in the film is his haircut - which is ridiculous to say the least! This does, however, make his role all the more intriguing...as I never thought that someone who looks so silly would be capable of murder! The ending is a bit forced, but its fun enough getting there; the atmosphere is claustrophobic and the relationship between the leads is never boring. Overall this isn't a great Hammer film - but it's a different one and I enjoyed it.