lampton

Holiday... marks the epitome of early/mid 70s low brow humour. The British industry was in a dire state and the majority of films churned out were things like this. Anyway, the film is excellent. Stan and Jack, the world's oldest swinging batchelors, somehow pull every young bird around which gives hope to us lesser mortals because if they can (especially Jack) then we all can. There's plenty of innuendo, wearing of flares and cravets on view and it all amounts to a classic film. If only things were like that now...

A fairly good end to the trilogy, although it's a shame the threatened armaggeddon never comes off (as in the later novels). Sam Neill puts in a good performance as the Devil's son and is surrounded by decent character actors. However, how Jerry Goldsmith didn't win an Oscar for the score, I will never know. It's absolutely amazing and proves music really can improve a film (just imagine a score-less Psycho, for example).

On finally watching The Exorcist, it left me wondering just why the hell the film was banned on video in Britain. It is extremely tame compared to many films and so it is good to see the film being actually available (A Clockwork Orange, please take note). The film itself seems to have been butchered in the editing room and would benefit with previously cut footage being restored for later prints, thus extending the viewing time and making the film into a classic, rather than the flawed masterpiece it currently is.