Reflections of Murder

As a great admirer of the late Joan Hackett's work, I came across this film so I had to see it. The performances are outstanding. Sam Waterston is hateful and eerie, I cant believe it's the same man I watch on Law and Order. Tuesday Weld and Joan Hackett are riveting in their performances. The suspense never stops. For a film that was done in 1974 - it can hold up to any suspense film written today. I saw the original movie and it was quite good, but, the way John Badham directed this film, it tops all the other remakes, including the most recent with Sharon Stone and Isabelle Adjani.

Joan Hackett and Sam Waterston run a boys' school on the large estate that's been in Joan's family for generations. While the students adore Joan—and vice versa—they fear her strict husband. Sam's former mistress, Tuesday Weld, also works at the school and is Joan's best friend. The two women are tired of getting pushed around, and Tuesday comes up with a plan to get Sam out of the way. . . permanently.

Don't be put off by Joan's mealy-mouthed character; she's supposed to be frustrating and inept! If she had any more of a backbone or a brain, she wouldn't have been bullied by her husband or coerced by her best friend to commit murder. As an actress, she does exactly what she's supposed to do for the audience to enjoy the flow of the story. Tuesday is also very good—and gives a great Mia Farrow impression—in her strength and take-charge-attitude. Those of you who are used to seeing Sam Waterston in good-guy roles will be very surprised to see him as an indisputable villain in Reflections of Murder, and he's able to pull it off surprisingly well, especially since he's so famous for being nice and kind. When all the actors give great performances, I tend to give credit to the director, so hats off to John Badham for yet another well-acted suspenseful flick!

If you like these types of movies, it's very entertaining. I'm a bit of a lightweight when it comes to scary movies, so Reflections of Murder is just as much as I can handle without hiding behind a pillow. Braver audiences might want to look for something spookier, but it was a great addition to my Halloween lineup!

made-for-tv remake of french suspense classic "Diabolique". Excellent script, eerie locale (the rain drenched and fog thickened landscape of Puget Sound), sharp editing and fine directing from John Badham make this far superior to average movie-of-the-week. And the performances could not be better. The great Joan Hackett (gone, alas, but not forgotten) and Tuesday Weld give tense, piercing performances. It takes a little while to get used to Sam Waterson playing a villian but when you see this film you understand how easy it is for Waterson to play the dark side of Jack McCoy on LAW AND ORDER. You will be on the edge of your chair during the scene on the bridge as the two women try to change a flat tire with a dead body in the trunk.

As a huge fan of Sam's, I came across this movie while doing a search of Sam-related items on ebay...my curiosity was piqued, and so I came here, liked what I read from others who had seen it, and ended up bidding on the movie, and winning it. I watched it as soon as I got it in the mail, and wow--what a movie!!!(Keep in mind that I've never seen the original version, "Diabolique"). I was hooked from the very beginning...and everything that I'd read about the bathtub scene near the end was true-- totally awesome!!! (In fact, I watched that part twice...and for those of you who saw this film as a child, and were subsequently traumatized, I completely understand why...great creep-out job on Sam's part!!) I can say honestly that this is a movie well worth checking out- I myself will be watching it several more times to come.

First of all, for those of you who don't know this already, this movie is a remake of the classic French film DIABOLIQUE. Secondly, I completely empathize with all the previous reviewers who claimed that this movie traumatized them as a child. I, too, could never quite shake the image of Sam Waterston rising out of the bathtub with those "dead" eyes...John Badham's direction is terrific and highly modern. It has a timeless look, unlike most 70s films with their washed-out, day-for-night cinematography and CHEESY use of the zoom lens. The performances are all solid. The story is taut and suspenseful. Fans who live in or near Los Angeles can rent this movie at Vidiots; everyone else will have to rely on eBay, amazon.com or some other source...