La Septième Victime

This little known and scantily screened Val Lewton masterpiece is a must see. The eerie atmosphere established at the boarding school where Kim Hunter learns of her sister's disappearance continues throughout. Scenes including her nightmarish experience in a darkened cosmetic company hallway illustrate how far afield recent film has gotten from true suspense as sustained in the imagination of the viewer. The chilling normalcy of the lives of the Satanists she comes to be pursuing in an effort to understand what has happened to her sister, and their quiet menace as they later gather forces to will the suicide of one of their ranks is gripping. The scenes depicting her sister's frantic run through the streets to escape a pursuer will remind others of the opening of Lewton's other little shown film The Leopard Man. Viewing this film further reinforces my belief that an intelligent film patron does not need to be clubbed over the head by excessive gore and violence to be truly scared by a film if the story is intriguing and the execution is as good as in The Seventh Victim.

I'm amazed not one reviewer has mentioned the outstanding contribution by Jean Brooks as the missing Jacqueline Gibson. Although she makes a late appearance Jean is very impressive in her five scenes, particularly her monologue describing how she came to join the Palladists and her nighttime flight being pursued by the assassin with the switchblade. None of the Lord's prayer survives in the print shown on British television. This is strange as two lines were reportedly intact when the film was originally shown in British cinemas.The excellent Brooks who appeared in two other Lewton films was sadly wasted by RKO and subsequently relegated to support and bit roles.

THE SEVENTH VICTIM is one of the best films produced by Val Lewton, famous for his wartime series of low budgeted, but brillantly spooky thrillers. A young girl (Kim Hunter) tries to locate her missing sister in Manhattan. In doing so, she uncovers a witch coven. There are so many masterful moments in this classic. In one scene, she is stalked by top-hatted cultists in a deserted subway, in another scene, as she showers, a female cultist confronts her (Shades of PSYCHO?) and there are terrific shocks as an exiled cultist tries to escape the coven. A must for horror fans!

The Seventh Victim is directed by Mark Robson and written by DeWitt Bodeen and Charles O'Neal. It stars Tom Conway, Jean Brooks, Isabel Jewell and Kim Hunter. Music is scored by Roy Webb and cinematography by Nicholas Musuraca.

When she is told her older sister Jacqueline has vanished, Mary Gibson is forced to leave her private school and travel to New York City to hopefully find her. Obtaining help from her sister's husband, Gregory, and the suspicious help of psychiatrist, Dr. Louis Judd, Mary finds that the deeper she goes the more dangerous the situation becomes, it appears that Jacqueline has got herself involved with something very sinister indeed.

He calleth all his children by their name.

Coming as it does from producer Val Lewton, one shouldn't be surprised that The Seventh Victim is a hauntingly poetic creeper of a movie, no shocks or out and out horror here, just a genuine sense of dread and a pervading sense of doom. When delving a bit further into the making of the picture it becomes apparent that an original cut of the piece was considerably longer, this explains a lot to me as the film, as good as it is in its 71 minute form, is not fully formed and at times not the easiest to fully understand. It would seem that although originally intended as a longer mainstream picture, a difference of opinion between Lewton and the studio (thought to be about the hiring of first time director Mark Robson) meant it was cut to a B movie standard.

The Palladists.

What remains, though, isn't at all bad, in fact it's unique. Robson's direction (obviously guided by Lewton) is perfectly sedate and in keeping with the mood of the piece, and between them they have conjured up some most unforgettable scenes and imagery. One particular shower scene lingers long after the credits roll, the perfect use of a silhouette probably had a certain Alfred Hitchcock taking notes, whilst the ending is quite simply a piece of bleak and unforgettable cinema. Musuraca is the key ingredient, though, the ace cinematographer is all about the shadows, blending noir with Gothic to create atmospheric paranoia. Satanism in Greenwich Village, suicide, psychological discord and urban dread, all potent little threads dangled into the slow burn pot. But ultimately it's the mood of the picture that gets you, unease and the murky mystery ensuring you are hooked throughout. 7.5/10

When Mary Gibson comes to New York to find her missing sister, Jacqueline, she is shocked to discover that she has a brother-in-law she knew nothing about as Jacqueline has gotten married. However she still can't locate her sister. However when she meets Dr Louis Judd, he gives her hope and provides some guidance to her efforts. When her private investigator is killed, Mary later sees his body being carried by two men on a train and suggests to her that something strange may be up; with the help of unemployed poet Jason Hoag she then starts to find connections between Jacqueline's disappearance and some form of strange cult.

I had no idea what this film was about but, having been seeing a lot of the Falcon movies recently, I decided to watch it due to Conway's involvement and was pleased to find that was much more than just that to make this film worth seeing. The plot is pretty dark and features a lot of hinted material that I would not have expected to have found in a film made during the 1940's – and is all the better for it. The "mystery" of the film is revealed early on and this is not the hook on which we are hung; instead the story unfolds with an intense atmosphere of foreboding that really offers nothing happy for the audience to leave with. The story is still good but, without this atmosphere and creepy touches, it isn't enough to work this well by itself. The material has plenty of creepy moments such as the shower confrontation, the creepy chase through alleyways, the subway confrontation and the ending itself; these are all very effective and are complimented by great direction from Robson and lighting/cinematography to match.

The cast could almost seem secondary to this side of the film but they do all still manage to be effective and add to the atmosphere. Hunter is convincing as Mary, innocent, naïve and in great danger, it never feels like a performance. Conway is good because I was never sure what side he was on or if his character was completely honest or not. Meanwhile Brooks works despite being a bit of an early Goth cliché; Gage is effective and the whole cast pretty much matches the atmosphere of the film and add value with their performances.

Overall this was a very nice surprise to me. It may be quite short but it is surprisingly effective in terms of having a creepy atmosphere; the story works well and the performances only help the film to produce a 1940's chiller that is surprisingly downbeat and effective throughout.