In my 2010 Halloween blog post, I opined on what I considered to be the 15 greatest horror films of all time, in which Psycho topped the list as #1. With Psycho so oft-imitated in past decades, it is so hard to appreciate how incredibly cutting edge it was, how Hitchcock did things in this film that had never been done before, did things that have been so often copied as to now be cliches but, at the time, were completely shocking and revolutionary. The 1954 French classic "Diabolique" also made my list in 2010 and I would now rate that as the 2nd best horror film of all time and I hope all of you took my tip and recorded it the other night for, if you did, you are in for a real treat. It is yet another film that was completely revolutionary for its time and has one of the most shocking and unexpected surprise endings in film history.
"Diabolique" showing up on this week's schedule (for the first time in years),
is what got me thinking about this horror film list again so, last night, when
they showed the 1973 shocker "Don't Look Now," I had to reconsider my rankings.
In 2010, I had overlooked this film but since I had a chance to see it again
last night, I now rank it as the 3rd best horror film of all time.
Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland play parents of two young children
and the film opens with their little girl accidentally drowning in the pool
behind their house in England. They are overwhelmed with grief, with Christie
leaning towards the occult for answers and the more rational Sutherland trying to just accept the
death and get on with life, doing so by taking an architectural
assignment restoring a grand cathedral in Venice. So the film is about these
two people trying to cope with their lost daughter's death but, as Christie gets
sucked into the world of the occult, their lives enter all kinds of dark and
chilling places. The suspense and mystery build beautifully until what is
undoubtedly one of the most shocking surprise endings in movie history.
Though the film was my Halloween treat after only six weeks at Boston
University, I was not aware at the time that it was so controversial and, until
I read more about it last night, I was not aware that it continues to be
controversial to this day, not only for the shocker ending, but also for one of
the most beautifully rendered but graphic sex scenes in movie history. The sex that
the great director Nicolas Roeg simulated for the scene showing the couple comforting each other at some time after the death was so realistic looking
that censors in both the UK and US insisted on seeing the raw footage before
they would believe that it was staged and not real sex. So convincing was the
illusion that critics at the time swore that they could see Sutherland
penetrating Christie, even if a detailed examination of the scene frame for
frame proved otherwise. In fact, what the censors found when they scrutinized
the footage is that neither actor was even fully nude, but were wearing flesh
colored coverings for the X-rated areas. Warren Beatty, who was Julie
Christie's paramour at the time, was so convinced that it was real sex that he
tried to use his considerable influence to have the scene cut from the film.
Such is the power of cinema and, in this case specifically, the power of film
editing.
So I feel compelled now to bring "Don't Look Now" to everyone's attention
as it was so daring and groundbreaking for its time and, even if it was a
tremendous success both critically and commercially, it really isn't shown very often. But it is very well worth a look. And, even though it has been forty
odd years since I've seen it, I enjoyed it just as much as the first time, even
moreso since now I was able to pick up on much of Roeg's foreshadowing that I
had missed as a film student in 1973.
It is not on Netflix but is available on Amazon for both rent and purchase. Enjoy!
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