Don't Look Now (1973)
Sub-Genre- Supernatural/Slasher
In Attendance- Me
Cast Members of Note- Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie.
What's it about?- When two parents let their little girl drown in a lake because they are too busy to be watching her, they naturally do what any couple would do; they head to Venice to restore an old church.
The husband keeps seeing a little girl in a red Macintosh running around in Venice, and begins to wonder if its his daughter, because she had a red Mac too. Forget that shes dead, or that she was 6 before dying and would have no way to make it to Venice on her own, it has to be her. The wife is no less nutty, making friends with a blind psychic who can see her daughter and says she's happy in death. Then why is she running the streets of Venice? Huh?
Soon, murders begin to plague the water logged town, and as the sightings of the little girl in the red slicker increase, the husband feels it necessary to chase after her.
I wont spoil what happens next here, but I will say that the creepy thing in the raincoat isn't their dead daughter.
The Good- To me, this movie is like an American version of a Giallo film. The old "Killer is on the loose" gag is used as a great accent to the crazy shit going on in the foreground of this picture. Slow moving, methodical, laced with hints and foreshadowing, and just genuinely creepy and unsettling, Don't Look Now is a solid effort that works throughout most of its run time.
This is a subtle film bookmarked by a disturbing beginning, and a shocking end; filling us with the dread and despair that the main characters feel following the loss of their daughter. They can't communicate with one another, nor come to terms with things separately, both trying to escape the memory of what happened until they are finally forced to face their feelings.
In a lot of ways, this movie is exactly what early 70's horror was all about; horror movies back then were more like dramas with horrific elements thrown into them, rather than an all out assault on the senses. I wonder how a movie like this, or even The Exorcist would fare if they were released today.
The Bad- It's never easy watching kids die in movies, unless its that little fucker from the Problem Child movies. Tell me you wouldn't have smirked if you'd have gotten to see him die on screen.
The Downright Horrendous- Was it necessary for us to have to see so much of Donald Sutherland's bare ass? Also, what was with his hairdo?
The Gory- Not much on the gore, although there is a nice scene that's fairly bloody towards the end. There are some disturbing images peppered throughout though, mostly of dead bodies.
The Naked- We get to see the famous sex scene between Christie and Sutherland that to this day is rumored to be true.
Best Line- "If the world is round, why is a frozen lake flat?"
What did we learn?- Stay away from kids standing in corners. Also, Venice is a pretty creepy city.
Rating- B This is a solid movie that gets under your skin and gives you a good shock at the end. Repeated viewings are a good idea to be able to fully appreciate this one. Check it out.
Final Thoughts- Julie Christie was pretty hot back in the day.
