noimagination

I remember renting this on VHS film with my brother back when I was 13. It made a huge impact on me, because even though back then and at that age I was able to differentiate between fictional horror and reality, this felt very real to me. Barbara Hershey puts on such a convincing turn here, it's impossible not to sympathise with the horrific situation that's forced on her.

Now, revisiting it 40 years later, I'm really impressed at how well this film has aged. It's fair to say that there isn't much in terms of a storyline - there's no explanation given as to why it happened, for example - but given that it's a horror film, and given that it was made in the early 80s, what it delivers has real emotion and impact, and it's quite masterful in the way that it piles on the tension. These days I'm quite immune to horror films and I'm rarely affected by them, but this one sits next to Paranormal Activity for me in terms of being fully engaging (and freaking me out).

The first part of is a beautiful, sultry piece of filmmaking. The acting is deep and casual and engaging (if somewhat mumblecore to my dull ears - subtitles were on), the production is rich, and there is the sense of a truly valuable film that blossoms.

Then there is a sudden tonal shift that kicks the last third of the film into an awkward farce. I often love it when films are ballsy enough to mix styles, genres and periods, but this did not work for me at all. If Cooger had the skills to balance the meaningfulness of the first part of the film with the allegorical action if the last part, this could have been magnificent. As it is, he sadly steps back from the nuance that would make this a complete whole and slips into Carry On Screaming.

Sadly a missed opportunity.

I'm staggered at how hammy this film is. The scribe is unforgivably bad, the dialogue is stilted and delivered like reading the ingredients from a cereal packet, and the direction was amateur. I can't believe why director worth their salt would allow the across to get away with this. The only saving grace is the soundtrack, which is worth listening to. I resented watching every single scene of this, and it's a waste of such a recognised IP. Do yourself a favour and skip this film entirely, and read the book instead. The scenes played out in your head will be masterful compared to this pitiful tripe.