Reflections of Murder

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!

There is a special chemistry at work in this movie, and its results are chilling. Tuesday Weld is far from the "Dobie Gillis" bimbo as she has often been portrayed. Joan Hackett is eerily on target and Sam Waterston is complex and intriguing. Especially effective (and spooky) is the set -- e.g. the swimming pool full of leaves in the autumn -- that contains who-knows-what. The original "Diabolique" has a classier title, but has fewer edges than this film. Highly recommended.

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...

I grew up in the house they used for the interior shots of the school and was in high school when they filmed there. Of course it was a blast getting to watch the movie-making process close up and to meet the actors. Sam Waterston was virtually unknown at the time (this was before his big break in The Great Gatsby with Robert Redford) and was somewhat aloof, as was Tuesday Weld, although I can understand the stress & hours that are involved in movie acting would cause an actor to conserve his/her energy. Joan Hackett on the other hand was very warm and outgoing - she would hang out in the kitchen with our family during her down time and talk away. She obviously fed off the energy of others and I have very fond memories of her, even though she was something of a drama queen. Watching the movie now, I'm very surprised at how well it has stood the test of time. John Badham used the combination of the Bach score and the damp and dead-leafy environment of Puget Sound in autumn to classic effect and I have come to appreciate Hackett's nuanced performance more as an adult than I ever could as a teenager. The movie really captures the feeling of the area and brings me fond memories of my childhood autumns.

I saw this as a very small boy. A very early memory for me is of not being able to sleep for days, thinking that some dead bloke was rising out of the bath. Nice. Still, that'll teach me for pleading to stay up past bedtime. I can't imagine it would have the same effect on me now, but I'd love to see it again sometime