December 2021 Update

It's been quiet over this way, mainly because pretty much everything I've been covering as of late has fallen well within the remit of Spooky Isles, where you can find my most recent articles.

After many hours spent in darkness with Brian Clemens' brilliant creation, my Thriller episode guide finally reaches its end with series six reviewed in depth at https://www.spookyisles.com/thriller-episode-guide/

A far shorter lived ITV venture came from Granada for Christmas 1974, and I'm looking at the two episodes produced for their eerie Haunted strand at https://www.spookyisles.com/haunted-episode-guide-1974-anthology/

Meanwhile, a couple of my film recommendations for 2021 you may have missed...

The Green Sea reviewed at https://www.spookyisles.com/the-green-sea-2021-review/

The Power reviewed at https://www.spookyisles.com/the-power-2021-review/

I take a whistle-stop tour around the world with 10 overseas posters from the golden age of Hammer Horror, at https://www.spookyisles.com/hammer-horror-posters/

Finally, we said farewell to late-period Hammer star Shane Briant: My obituary is at https://www.spookyisles.com/shane-briant-obituary/.

Hope you've all had the best Christmas possible, and wishing you a peaceful, prosperous and safe 2022.

MOVIE: I See You (2019)

I See You

Directed by Adam Randall

Starring Helen Hunt, Jon Tenney, Judah Lewis, Owen Teague, Libe Barber, Gregory Alan Williams

Bankside Films/Head Gear Films/Kreo Films/Zodiac Features 2019

Following the disappearance of a small boy, the investigating officer and his family are affected by a series of strange happenings. There may be a link to a series of child disappearances some years earlier, but matters are further complicated by the infidelity of the officer's wife, and the couple's attempts at reconciliation.

This is one smart little chiller-thriller, its first half cranking up an unnerving atmosphere, leaving you wondering how it can sustain it for the second half.

The thing is, the film doesn't sustain it. In fact, it wilfully changes tack completely in the most surprising manner, putting a totally different complexion on the events of the first half. Character motivations are revealed to be nothing like they may have seemed, the true source of some of the stranger phenomena is unexpected and it's a chilling reveal when we learn the identity of the true villian of the piece.

We don't get to find out fully what has happened in the child abductions (past and present), but Devon Graye's screenplay leaves enough scraps of detail scattered around for us to fill in the gaps and go to some very dark places.

Perhaps not one for those looking for a quick horror fix, the more patient viewer will be amply rewarded. Deftly structured and executed, with all-round excellent performances, I See You kept me hooked and wrong-footed in equal measure right to the end, and is certainly one of my favourite releases of the past year.

MOVIE: The Killer Reserved Nine Seats (L'assassino ha riservato nove poltrone) (1974)

The Killer Reserved Nine Seats 

aka L'assassino ha riservato nove poltrone

Cinenove/Overseas Film Company 1974

Directed by Giuseppe Bennati

Starring Rosanna Schiaffino, Chris Avram, Eva Czemerys, Lucretia Love, Paola Senatore

A wealthy socialite invites a group of acquaintances away from a party and back to his country villa, within the confines of which is a grand theatre. It soon becomes apparent that the theatre is not a safe place to be, as the guests are killed off one-by-one.

A film often tagged as a giallo, and there is certainly enough of that genre's ingredients here to keep fans occupied, but as things progress its premise (clearly indebted to Agatha Christie) takes a sharp turn into more supernatural territory.

It's an enjoyable enough effort, marred slightly by some sexual violence which adds nothing to proceedings, a curious addition since the film seems somewhat generally coy about depicting the actual murders in any detail. Additionally hampering things is a hamfistedly talky screenplay, and an overly stretched final act which aims for atmosphere but leaves the remaining cast effectively wading through treacle to get to the end.

For all that, the setting is very effective and fans of the "Ten Little Indians" style of thriller will find plenty to enjoy. Sure, characters act illogically throughout, but that's nothing unusual in a film of this ilk. Good soundtrack work adds to things considerably, and there's certainly enough good set pieces to make The Killer Reserved Nine Seats worth tracking down.