Often revered as a classic '70s horror movie, Nicolas Roeg's Don't Look Now has earned itself a place in StudioCanal's Vintage Classics line of Blu-ray releases, and having shared a double-bill with The Wicker Man (which was the 'B-feature' in that particular screening) upon its original release in 1973 - the same year audiences were also exposed to The Exorcist - it was certainly there amongst the zeitgeist of the ever-changing horror movie landscape of the times. John Baxter (Donald Sutherland) and his wife Laura (Julie Christie) are working at home one day when their daughter Christine (Sharon Williams) falls into a pond in their garden and drowns. Skip forward an indeterminate amount of time and the Baxter's - minus their son, who is in a boarding school in England - are in Venice as John is overseeing the restoration of an old church. After a chance meeting with a blind psychic and her sister, Laura comes to believe that Christine's ghost is watching over her and her husband, and warns them to leave Venice as something terrible is going to happen to John, but John is a sceptic who believes his daughter is dead and not able to communicate with the living. However, the more Laura begins to believe what she is told by the blind woman, the more John resists, but if his daughter is dead then who is the figure in a red coat the same as what Christine was wearing when she drowned that he keeps seeing around Venice? Based on a story by Daphne Du Maurier but with a few changes, Don't Look Now offers up a fairly solid psychological/supernatural premise that is set up beautifully by the filmmakers and its two leads. Controversial upon its release due to an intimate sex scene between Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie that many believed was real - this was debunked by Sutherland and producer Peter Katz, despite persistent rumours - the movie certainly has the flavour of something deep and intense that could potentially scar any viewers going in expecting a more traditional horror movie. After all, this was the transgressive 1970s, where gothic monsters, ghouls and goblins were out and more 'realistic' terrors were the order of the day. And for the most part Don't Look Now is exactly that, as Nic Roeg, screenwriters Allan Scott and Chris Bryant, and cinematographer Anthony Richmond combine their talents to produce a movie that plays on the fears of parenthood, grieving and loss, drawing you in with moments like Donald Sutherland's animalistic howl as John Baxter pulls his dead daughter from the water, or the aforementioned love scene that is interspersed with various shots of people and places to build up the sense that this is a loving couple doing their best to overcome the tragic loss of a child. And then there is the final reveal, where everything that we have been building up to comes to fruition and the movie can have its moment, which is a scene that has been included in dozens of 'Greatest Horror Movie Moments' lists over the past few decades, and, quite honestly, one has to wonder why because it is so completely daft that it strips away so much of the creeping dread that the previous 100-or-so minutes has perfectly crafted to the point of unintentional hilarity. Playing on the artier side of storytelling rather than the narrative side, Don't Look Now plays on the idea that nothing is quite as it seems and that anything can happen at any time - a trope that many an arthouse movie thrives upon - but once you've spent the best part of forty minutes running around Venice with Donald Sutherland and are presented with the idea that what John Baxter thinks he is seeing isn't exactly what he thinks it is, the final reveal seems somewhat empty because it bears very little resemblance or has any connective tissue to what we have been building up to. In 1973, that was the point but watching it in 2022 - in a scene that is, ironically, currently dominated by more psychological or surreal takes on the genre - Don't Look Now comes across as just plain silly, getting a pass because it is a big(ish, for the time) budget studio horror movie featuring notable stars and made by a well-known director. Had it been a sleazy, no-budget affair featuring amateur actors and made by an independent filmmaker it probably would have disappeared without a trace once it had done a short run in the grindhouse cinemas. Presented as a 4K restoration in a two-disc set that features several appraisals, retrospectives, commentaries, etc., Don't Look Now certainly benefits from the HD upgrade, with Nic Roeg's deliberately chosen colour schemes popping out of the screen to great effect, not to mention the gorgeous vistas of Venice. The performances from Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie are fantastic, playing a grieving couple as realistically as is possible, making them believable and likeable just by being natural, and Nic Roeg's direction shines through, creating an atmosphere of dread that permeates every scene, warning of incoming danger without ever really having to show you very much. However, nearly five decades later, the payoff for sitting through such a tense and emotional escalation for 100-odd minutes feels more like a slap in the face than an attack on the senses. Perhaps The Wicker Man should have been the main feature instead... Distributor: StudioCanal
BBFC Classification: 15 Director: Nicolas Roeg Starring: Donald Sutherland, Julie Christie, Hilary Mason, Sharon Williams, David Tree, Massimo Serato, Sharon Williams Special Features: Audio commentary by director Nicolas Roeg and critic Adam Smith, Pass the Warning: Reflecting on Nic Roeg's Masterpiece 2019 documentary, A Kaleidoscope of Meaning: Colour in Don't Look Now 2019 documentary, 4K Restoration 2019 featurette, Death in Venice 2006 interview with composer Pino Donaggio, interview with actor Donald Sutherland, interview with screenwriter Allan Scott, interview with cinematographer Tony Richmond, interview with filmmaker Danny Boyle, Don't Look Now: Looking Back 2002 documentary with director Nicolas Roeg and editor Graeme Clifford, Behind the Scenes Gallery. UK Release Date: 29th July 2019
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