(HORROR) Sisters - 1973 ****

Quite a shocking film for it's time, mostly for the purely psychological tension and panic that it creates for the viewer. One of those situations where the audience knows what's going on and feels like they want to scream at the screen to stop the following events from happening. Margot Kidder gives quite a haunting performance, mainly I think it's because she's obviously not English, and her slightly stilted accent is a bit eerie. I wouldn't say it's quite as terrifying as Hitchcock but it still packs a punch, and the ending is very odd. A woman is accused of murdering her date after he is found dead in her apartment. A reporter and a neighbour witness it happen. The trouble is the woman is one half of Siamese twins and she fears her sister may have something to do with it.
There are some genuinely tense moments here, and for those who have seen 'Dressed to Kill' this is a must-watch.

Martha Marcy May Marlene - 2011 **

I had been wanting to watch this movie for ages. I love things about cults added to which it had been nominated for various awards. What could possibly go wrong? Well, pretty much the whole movie that's what. Elizabeth Olsen isn't a good actress, (following in suit with her two sisters I assume) and so having to focus on her for the entire movie as she painstakingly dragged herself through each scene was rather like watching paint dry. I suppose she did portray a post-cult member rather well, doing inappropriate things like swimming naked, wetting herself after having nightmares and walking into her sister's room in the middle of the night when her sister is having sex with her husband.
Not a brilliant movie, with a totally ambiguous ending which ruined it even more.

Twisted Nerve - 1969 *****

'Twisted Nerve' in my opinion is a superb film. It is taut, gripping, full of jumps and terrifyingly psychological. After spending so long watching Hayley Mills in her earlier films she was completely unrecognizable as the joint lead in this.

Hywel Bennett plays a young man named Martin who is treated like a child by his mother and ignored by his father. The couple have another son but he is a mongoloid and therefore in a mental institution, (the film makes a big deal at the beginning to reassure viewers that people do not think of mongoloids as insane, it is just for the purpose of the movie). The mother is terrified that Martin will become 'weird' like his brother, and therefore pampers and mothers him to the extent where he retreats into a childish world where he names himself 'Georgie', plays with his toys and speaking like someone with a bit of a problem. The irony! In reality, Martin is an intelligent and manipulative person, who becomes obsessed by Susan (Mills) after she gets him out of a shoplifting scrape and goes to great extremes trying to track her down. When he finally does, it is at her home which she shares with her mother (Billie Whitelaw) and a number of lodgers. Adopting his 'Georgie', Martin hopes to worm his way into her affections, and nothing will stop him...

A brilliant film to see at night with the lights off. The most terrifying thing is Martin's mind which has no limits or boundaries, no matter who ends up hurt.

The Servant - 1963 ***

The first thing I noted about this film was how completely risque it was for a film of it's time. The second thing I thought of was that I couldn't for the life of me get to grips with what was going on. I sensed that because it was Harold Pinter related it would be a bit bizarre but still!

I get that there were class divides, and obviously Dirk Bogarde initially plays the 'servant' to James Fox's 'master' but then it all got a bit confusing for me. What it seemed however was that there became a drastic shift in class, with Bogarde appearing to take over the more overpowering role, and James Fox cowering into the lower class one. There are also added complications when Bogarde brings his 'sister' to the house as a maidservant, and falls out almost immediately with Fox's fiancee.

However if you watch closely, it's clear that Bogarde effectively owns the scenes. He has a gentle way of manipulating both the owner and his partner without them really understanding what he is doing. That to me is rather terrifying. It's definitely a psychological thriller at the very least, and certain other subjects including homosexuality and incest are touched upon which had me amazed for a 1960s film. However obviously the 60s was full of free love and new and exciting things so I shouldn't really be surprised.

Bogarde is an amazing actor, I respect him a huge amount, but think that I would probably have to watch this again to really appreciate the nuances.

Harry, He's Here to Help - 2000 ***

I can't say I think much of the translation of this film's title, it sounds completely unsuitable for the film. It sounds like the lead has broken down in their car and sent for the AA, which appears in the form of Harry..

I much prefer the rougher translation that the English have used ' With A Friend Like Harry.'

I must say this was a remarkably strange film, if slightly bizarre and unsettling.

Michel and Claire live in a lovely old French house on the outskirts with their 2 children. One day whilst out driving, Michel bumps into an old classmate named Harold at a rest stop.

Harold "Harry" invites himself and his girlfriend Plum, over to their house to have a drink despite it apparently being hundreds of miles out of their way. And once they reach the house, both Harry and Plum start to intergrate themselves into the family, and aren't going anywhere...

This is a sort of mixture of all the well known films that cover this 'captive at home' scenario, (The Strangers, Funny Games, The Talented Mr Ripley) although it's never quite that bad on the surface. It's more a terrible uneasiness of feeling like your visitors have outstayed their welcome and won't take the hint to leave. Harry starts off as a rather charming and friendly man, but soon it feels like his mask has slipped and he becomes outwardly obsessive (I'm assuming over Michel) to the point where he is trying to destroy everything in Michel's life. It's very weird, and there are a few loose ends as regards to what happens in certain scenarios that will have you scratching your head, but on the whole, an interesting and surreal experience into a very twisted mind.