(1972)
Dir - Sidney Gilliat
Overall: MEH
The last film directed by Sidney Gilliat was the later-era Agatha Christie adaptation Endless Night. Christie's works generally was not brimming with horror elements and this is no exception. The, (very), few times something approaching macabre happens, it is jarring due to how vaguely non-confrontational the actual story is. The characters are likeable and outside of a mildly eccentric old crone who only has one scene of dialog spouting some general warning about a curse, nothing antagonistic seems to be afoot. Naturally, this ultimately does not last as there would be no movie without some sort of plot jolt, but the twist comes off as brutishly abrupt. The way that the film is presented is more interesting and ultimately satisfying than how unpleasantly the story is resolved. Clues are given as to the main character's deficient psyche as he confuses what he sees and hears, plus we are never shown who he is talking to off camera until the end. Yet by that point, it has treaded too weak on the thrills and chills that it needed all along.
DON'T LOOK NOW(1973)
Dir - Nicolas Roeg
Overall: GREAT
One of the most influential and renowned psychological horror films ever made, Don't Look Now, (A Venezia... un Dicembre rosso shocking), was the third effort from cinematographer turned director Nicolas Roeg. Based off the short story of the same name by English author Daphne du Maurier, few horror films if any make grief such a primary focus. Understanding that the mere concept of losing one's child is about the most traumatic and ergo horrifying thing that a couple can experience, Roeg forgoes any cheap genre pandering altogether. Examining the concept of supernatural premonitions, both the characters and the viewer become disoriented with an almost aggressive use of motifs shown via flashback and flash-forward editing techniques. A sprawling, labyrinth-like Venice is purposefully used to this advantage, creating a complex barrier where both the language and physical location itself is frustratingly foreign. Every creative component, (direction, editing, cinematography, performances), cooperates, and the film's patience with its subject matter never comes off as laborious.
(1977)
Dir - Clive Donner
Overall: GOOD
One of a handful of failed 70s pilots by Star Trek creator/producer Gene Roddenberry, Spectre is an occasionally clashing and odd, occult-themed detective property that is reminiscent enough of others from the era. Kolchak; The Night Stalker naturally comes to mind. Falling short of being picked up as a series in the US, an extended version was released in the UK with nudity added to exploit it up. There is a of a charm to the hodgepodge of supernatural details frequently used, and the skeptic vs. believer relationship between the two main characters, (American actors Robert Culp and Gig Young, respectively), mirrors that of agents Mulder and Scully in The X-Files some seventeen years later. The editing is occasionally a bit harsh and the added ingredient of random, near-sex scenes gives it clumsy, unfocused feel. Of course no occult movie worth its weight in pentagrams would be complete without a showstopping black mass and the Asmodeus-praising one here makes good with the crimson and black robes, the screaming, and the crazy make-up. Goofy business yet still kind of fun.
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