The Lottery

Excellent adaptation of Shirley Jackson's provocative short story, still has impact. Unsettling depiction of the banality of evil. Like the short story, the film begins casually with the start of the annual ritual lottery and grows more intense as we slowly realize the lottery's purpose. Its main character, Tessie Hutchinson, learns too late the dangers of not speaking up, and of blindly following and supporting tradition. Just ask yourself: What was Tessie Hutchinson doing last June? What goes around comes around. Tradition is symbolized by lucky "Old Man Warner"(77 years in the lottery). Like the short story, the film is shocking because of its matter-of-fact tone: the lottery is depicted as just another mundane yearly event. Spare, powerful, and thought-provoking. When the film ends you'll no doubt be going over it in your mind.

Shirley Jackson's notorious horror classic "The Lottery" is among the most famous and iconic works in all of 20th century American literature, and this brief adaptation nails the story's disturbing and tense mood. The cinematic platform adds quite a bit to the story's overall horror, and this version takes full advantage of this. It is not gory in any way, and instead it provokes horror from an unsettling and gritty atmosphere in the vein of "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre". The soundtrack and design remain uneasy, the characters are mundane yet there is obviously something off about them, and every shot does not at all looked planned out, instead it feels as if it were filmed by some random spectator capturing the action. The atmosphere is that of a cinema verite style documentary film thanks to the unorganized structure of shots, uneasy camera-work, gritty cinematography, and highly natural, realistic setting.

I saw this from a 16mm print about 30 years ago, and still think about it today. This short kind of has the flavor of a "Tales from the Darkside" episode to it, but seems more realistic. I agree with the previous reviewer that commented on the made-for-TV two hour version that came out in the 90's. What were they thinking? Did the folks who made that movie ever see this short? It just didn't have the horror that was present in this classic short. I can still see that woman, crying in terror, saying "it isn't fair, it isn't fair. Heavy duty stuff.

There should most definitely be a DVD of this around somewhere.

Highly recommended!!!

"The Lottery" (1969) is a short film adaptation of Shirley Jackson's short story of the same name. The film does a very good job portraying the short story, depicting a town's controversial lottery. The acting was fine for the 1960's, but the cinematography was sub-par. The camerawork seemed hastily done on a Saturday night, since the camera shakes a lot, detracting from the actual story. The movie also seems to also drag on for far too long. The story could have been the same, but in 10-15 minutes rather than the 18 minutes the film is depicted in. This could be seen as a positive though, since the films awkward length adds to the feeling of tension that the characters are feeling. The acting was not one of the highlights of the film, however, since Tessie Hutchinson, the one who is chosen in the lottery in both stories, is not very well acted, and is not who I expected to see representing her after reading the story. Old Man Warner, the grumpy old man of the actual story, however, was acted perfectly, in my opinion. The film has a certain charm to it, which I really enjoy. The feeling that you are there is very strong, but I would say that the "feeling" of being there is a bit too strong. Overall, while the movie is objectively a bad film, I would say it is not a bad adaptation of Shirley Jackson's short story. It does have it's flaws, but overall, one could surely do worse.

I saw this film in 7th or 8th grade Social Studies class some 25 years ago, and it still has the same impact when I even think about it. There was dead silence in the classroom when this film was over and probably 30 students saying to themselves, "Are they all insane?!" Quite possibly the characters were. But we learned something that day. Going along with the bunch may save your hide, but we reap what we sow. excellent film. A must see for all teenagers! The remake was too grandiose...short and sweet is all that is needed! Even the kids that were not particularly interested in the film when it started we mesmerized by the time we all realized what was going on. The image of that person handing "it" to the lady's child was just too much for any of us to comprehend. I won't spoil the "surprise" ending by mentioning what "it" was or anything, but suffice it to say that this film will stay with me forever. It ranks right up there with James Clavell's "The Children's Story." Put these two stories in every curriculum, is what I say.