Finally seeing Joy House (1964-also reviewed) after having it sat on a USB since 2019 waiting to be played, I decided to follow this, by watching a disc I've kept pushing back for years. Importing this DVD over a decade ago, but for some reason having left it on the shelf since it arrived in the post,I felt it was time to discover how cold blood can run.
View on the film:
Whilst the odd spot of dirt appears near the ending, Warner Archive present a great transfer featuring a crisp soundtrack and a print that retains film grain.
Ending a run of pretty boy roles, Troy Donahue takes advantage of his pin-up looks with a very good performance as Gunther, with Donahue twisting Gunther's dashing charm in his romantic swooning of Merriday, which Donahue uncoils with outbursts that hints he might not be showing his full hand.
Keeping the blood of everyone running cold, director William Conrad & Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965-also reviewed) cinematographer Sam Leavitt twists an ambiguous Thriller atmosphere on if Gunther really is an old romantic, or something more sinister, with excellent, stylish arc shots circling the increasingly fearful doubts the parents of Merriday (played with a romantic naivety by Joey Heatherton) have over who is loved-up for her.
Hitting the shores with an opening quote from Byron, the screenplay by John Mantley and John Meredyth Lucas spill out teen Melodrama, with a bubbling psychological Neo-Noir Thriller of reincarnation and creepy psychotic outbursts landing hard against the rocks,as Gunther reveals to Merriday that blood runs cold.
View on the film:
Whilst the odd spot of dirt appears near the ending, Warner Archive present a great transfer featuring a crisp soundtrack and a print that retains film grain.
Ending a run of pretty boy roles, Troy Donahue takes advantage of his pin-up looks with a very good performance as Gunther, with Donahue twisting Gunther's dashing charm in his romantic swooning of Merriday, which Donahue uncoils with outbursts that hints he might not be showing his full hand.
Keeping the blood of everyone running cold, director William Conrad & Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965-also reviewed) cinematographer Sam Leavitt twists an ambiguous Thriller atmosphere on if Gunther really is an old romantic, or something more sinister, with excellent, stylish arc shots circling the increasingly fearful doubts the parents of Merriday (played with a romantic naivety by Joey Heatherton) have over who is loved-up for her.
Hitting the shores with an opening quote from Byron, the screenplay by John Mantley and John Meredyth Lucas spill out teen Melodrama, with a bubbling psychological Neo-Noir Thriller of reincarnation and creepy psychotic outbursts landing hard against the rocks,as Gunther reveals to Merriday that blood runs cold.