70's Foreign Horror Part Twenty-Three

THE NIGHT VISITOR

(1971)

Dir - László Benedek

Overall: GOOD

 

Hungarian-born director László Benedek takes a successful stab at detail-oriented, Hitchcockian suspense with The Night Visitor, (Salem Came to Supper, Lunatic, Papegojan); an English-speaking Swedish thriller with Ingmar Bergman collaborators Max Von Sydow and Liv Ullmann on board.  Several other notable thespians such as Per Oscarsson, Trevor Howard, Rupert Davies, and Andrew Keir are present as well and the distinguished cast along with Benedek's controlled presentation help to give such rural melodrama a classy aura.  The somber, menacing score by none other than Henry Mancini is both unorthodox and used sparingly as most of the more intense sequences play out in naturalistic, quasi-silence.  It is a white-knuckled affair in this regard as the audience is largely left guessing every step of the way as to what Sydow's wrongfully accused, almost anti-hero mental patient is up to as he goes about his elaborate scheme to get back at the people who put him in his present predicament.  This is particularly the case during the excellent and drawn-out opening set piece which throws the viewer right in without any spoon-feeding, as well as the equally elaborate ending that humorously seals Sydow's fate.

 

THE SINFUL DWARF

(1973)

Dir - Vidal Raski

Overall: WOOF

A rare sexploitation film from Denmark of all places, The Sinful Dwarf, (Dværgen, The Abducted Bride, The Dwarf), is bottom-barrel sleaze of the most boring and uninspired variety.  While Torben Bille seems to be enjoying himself as the dim-witted, diabolical title character who fetches women for his mother to prostitute and hook on heroin in a sex dungeon/attic, the presentation by director Vidal Raski is ugly, sluggish, and cinimatically flat.  Two different versions of the film exists depending on how much snore-inducing pornography one wishes to sit through, but both of them have the same unengaging structure where the entire first and second acts fail to progress the already paper-thin plot in any way shape or form.  A woman complains about not wanting to live in a dingy inn, her husband complains about not being able to find a job, and then we get a fresh rape scene before the exact same exchange happens the following day.  There are some quirky elements thrown in like Bille's eccentric mother pathetically trying to relive her nightclub heyday and a drug dealer named Santa Clause, but it is mostly just deplorable rape scenes taking place in grimy dwellings that will make you crave a shower after watching.  Whatever the point was to such an odious, no-budget trash-heap is lost on any audience member that is unfortunate enough to come across it.

SNAPSHOT

(1979)

Dir - Simon Wincer

Overall: MEH

A minor entry in Ozploitation that only merits its thriller tag within the last twenty minutes, Snapshot, (The Day After Halloween, One More Minute), serves as the theatrical debut from television director Simon Wincer.  While it is well acted and Wincer keeps things moving enough in the pacing department, the script, (which was originally by Chris Fitchett and then reworked by Wincer and screenwriter Everett De Roche), presents a dour scenario where a well-meaning young woman seems unable to catch a break from anyone in her life.  Her boss is an asshole, her best friend goes to some dubious lengths to get in her pants, her ex-boyfriend is a pathetic, stalking nutjob, her mother is a raving cunt, a photographer and his haphazard series of roommates are indifferent to her privacy, and a wealthy modeling agency owner is all about the sexual harassment.  With everyone on screen being various levels of unpleasant, it makes for a rough viewing experience where the only tension to be found is in hoping that Sigrid Thornton's protagonist will both merely make it out OK and get as far away from these people as possible.  The film is gritty without being boundary pushing, but the stakes are too low for too long, so there is little engagement to be had overall.