O Encontro

A young girl is abducted by an evil force in the woods and 3 years later another 14 year old girl, besotted with her father, is upset that he will miss her music concert because of a last minute appointment he has to drive to. Evil forces visit the family in the night causing all sorts of unpleasant dreams as well as seemingly affecting the family car.

Whilst there is a lot wrong with this in terms of stilted acting and dialogue and a plot which is no doubt filled with clever metaphors which I missed, there remains plenty to admire here. The whole thing is rich in atmosphere and whilst it is clear where it's all heading, you are really drawn in. The plot itself makes little sense and the fairly shocking beginning and post climax scene feel like a disconnected afterthought and the 'haunting' of the car, a bit bewildering. Again, this is compensated for by carefully pacing and strong focus on scenes leading to an exciting, extremely well crafted climax - Hollywood should take note.

Three years ago, the 12-year old Sandy Freemont disappeared after taking a shortcut through the woods. The mystery is yet to be solved.

'The Appointment' is an interesting film. There are supernatural elements, but very subtle. Then there are the creepy dogs. One never really knows whether they are related, but both forces are frightening in their own right.

The film also contains family drama, with Ian (Edward Woodward) having to leave town for an appointment on the same day of his daughter, Joanne's first classical concert. Joanne is upset when she realizes he will miss the concert, and throughout the evening she keeps nagging him about it. There are suggestive moments that makes one believe Ian fooled around with his daughter, or still is, but this never surfaces.

Some scenes linger on purpose to create an unnerving suspense I haven't felt in a movie in a while. Ian's sleepless night before he had to leave, was incredibly suspenseful - thanks to clever photography and editing. That night - which seemed to go on forever (in a good way!) - had me on the edge of my seat.

Soon we realize his dreams were actually a premonition, with Ian's fate being sealed. 'The Appointment' is a horror movie without blood, guts and gore, but it is horrifying in a psychological sense - and creepy as hell. You have to read between the lines to fully understand it, though. There's more going on here than you might think.

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.

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.

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.