Sweet Angel Mine

I caught this film at the Welsh International Film festival a couple of years ago, and it stood out (decapitated) head and shoulders above anything else. It's a superbly-crafted thriller about a man searching for his missing father, and finding a hell of a lot more in the shape of an isolated matriarchal family in Nova Scotia. The script, acting, use of locations, and most of all the superb atmosphere combine to make this one of the best films I've ever seen. It's a real pity it's not well known, as it certainly beats most of Hollywood's output hands down.

A young British man named Paul (Oliver Milburn) is in Canada searching for his father. He stumbles upon a farm in a remote part of Nova Scotia, where a beautiful woman and daughter are the only people for miles. Paul gets hired on to do some work around the place.

At first, it's an ideal situation, until Paul begins to suspect that there's something wrong with mum and her "angel". Circumstances arise that threaten Paul's sanity and his life.

SWEET ANGEL MINE is a subtle thriller / chiller, right up until the all-hell-breaks-loose finale. It contains some rather gruesome images and sequences. There's romance mixed with disturbing psychosexual occurrences. It gets high marks for originality and a bizarre story line...

Bizarre, to be sure. Has a look and feel like a low budget 70's exploitation flick.

The acting is actually pretty good, and so is the the cinematography.

The "surprise" is pretty easy to predict.

It's nice to see the great British actress Anna Massey. She deserves to be in better films. Remember her in Hitchcock's "Frenzy?"

Content-wise, this is really a dark and perverse film. No kids allowed.

I managed (unlike several others) to catch the film from about 5 minutes in. The film summary caught my interest but I felt the first 10 minutes went slowly as the young man rode his motorbike around Nowhere, Nova Scotia.

Once he had met up with the odd family, things began to get interesting.

Some of the scenes were very well set up especially his encounter with Rauchine in the barn where she seemed 'disinterested' in his attentions.

Disturbing in parts, and Rauchine's innocence made me feel a bit squeamish at times. The Grandmother was a bit tedious, immediately evoking the image of Norman's mother in Psycho.

Top marks to Alberta Watson who, as the mother, exhibited menace and allure at the same time. What a tiger!

Only gripe? The scene in the local bar was clumsy and didn't help the story at all. Thankfully it only lasted a few minutes.

What a pity it was shown so late on TV. Definitely a film you either love or loathe. I loved it. If you like this kind of film you should also try to see "Tick Tock".

This Psychoesque film has a lot to recommend it: #1 Nova Scotia (Makes me want to go there); #2 - engaging characters - even the bad characters are strangely attractive #3 - fearlessness of the main character Paul (his naive self confidence gets him in trouble.) Highlight of the film - Paul's first dream. Worst moment - the pitiful ropes which were restraining him as bad things were about to happen. It was so bad you could see the space between the rope and his wrist (right hand) - I know my 2 1/2 year old grand son, Gus could have easily slipped out of the rope.

I did enjoy the movie - flashbacks in black and white were effective. Mom & Daughter were alluring - Grandma disgusting - no surprise there! Fairly early in the movie you will "get it" even if you are not overly movie savvy. Yet worth the time. DonB