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Robert-50
Reviews
Let's Scare Jessica to Death (1971)
One of the best horror films of the 1970s.
"Let's Scare Jessica to Death" is easily on the of the best horror films of the 1970s and one of the few films of the genre to rely solely on atmosphere and story-telling to make its effect without resorting to gore or violence.
It's the story of a woman already in a fragile mental state who, along with her husband and best friend, moves from New York City to an isolated Connecticut farm to try to get her life back in order. Upon arriving, a young drifter is found to have taken up residence in the old house. Once the drifter is invited to stay on, Jessica has little chance of realizing the peaceful existence she had hoped for.
There are so many wonderful moments in this film that I wish I could mention them all. Some of my favorites would include Emily's singing of the ominous folk song, the seance, Jessica's discovery of the knife and her realization of who is in the old photograph. The performances by the entire cast, consisting mostly of New York theater actors, are outstanding. Zohra Lampert, however, must be singled out for her performance in the role of Jessica. She has created a character that is very real - a woman who is strong and spirited and yet at the same time very fragile. You can't help but feel for her. It's truly a great performance. Mention should also be made of the outstanding photography by Robert M. Baldwin - not something you always notice in a horror film. The opening and closing shots are stunning and will stay with you long after the film is over.
La corrupción de Chris Miller (1973)
A young drifter complicates life for two unhappy women.
According to David Richards' biography of Jean Seberg, she did this film because she needed the money. Well, it's obvious she didn't do it for the script of this convoluted Spanish thriller.
Seberg plays Ruth Miller, a fashion designer, spending the summer in Spain with her stepdaughter Chris, played by the former Spanish child star Marisol. Ruth and Chris do not get along particularly well. Ruth wants to get revenge on her husband, who abandoned Ruth and Chris a year earlier, by corrupting his daughter - hence the film's title. Chris has also just returned from a Swiss hospital where she received psychological treatment after being raped while taking a shower. These memories are triggered whenever it rains and she lashes out at anyone near her. It rains a lot in this movie. Into this situation comes a young English drifter, Barney, played by Barry Stokes. Ruth takes him in but he ends up falling for Chris. This causes even more tension between the two women. In the meantime, a series of brutal murders have occurred in the surrounding countryside. All indications point to Barney as the murderer. Ruth and Chris seem to think so and they stab him to death in a particularly graphic and protracted scene complete with slow-motion photography. Realizing their mistake when the real murderer is arrested the next day, they bury his body in the path of a road being built. I won't identify the real murderer except to say that the ending is completely arbitrary. The final scene of the film with Ruth and Chris chatting intimately by the pool is quite bizarre - I'm not exactly sure what is really happening there.
As usual with her later work, this film is of note only for the presence of Jean Seberg. The direction and photography are routine although some flashback scenes are well handled. The score does contribute to the mood of the film. Among the performers, Barry Stokes is very effective, Marisol is quite acceptable and Jean Seberg simply seems embarrassed by the whole thing. She is never really convincing and seems particularly uncomfortable with the less than subtle implication of a lesbian relationship between Ruth and Chris.
This film shares a strange number of plot points with the earlier British film "The Night Digger": both feature an unhappy relationship between a stepmother and stepdaughter, a young drifter who enters into this relationship and victims being buried in the path of a new road. Just a coincidence?
Bianchi cavalli d'Agosto (1975)
An American couple and their son vacation in Italy.
"Bianchi cavalli d'Agosto" or "White Horses of Summer" is one of Jean Seberg 's last films and, like most of her films from the '70s, is notable only because her presence is so unexpected.
Seberg and Frederick Stafford play an American couple on vacation in southern Italy at the resort of Pugnochiuso with their 12 year-old son played by Renato Cestie. Their marriage is in a crisis with constant bickering that usually ends with Stafford getting drunk. Eventually he leaves the resort to visit the ruins of Pompeii. While he is gone, Seberg has an affair with a frustrated writer played by Roberto Terracina. Cestie is disturbed by his parent's fighting and daydreams of being rescued from his unhappy life by Arab sheiks on white horses. When Seberg receives an apologetic love-letter from Stafford she decides to rejoin him. Cestie, realizing that this will only end in more fighting, runs from her and accidentally falls from a seaside cliff. He is rushed to a hospital where Seberg and Stafford re-unite, grateful that their son will recover from his injuries.
This film may have originally had some potential to be an affecting drama but it is completely sabotaged by a very weak script, at least as heard in the english-language version. The film's saving grace is some beautiful photography of the villages and coastal areas of southern Italy. There are several visually striking moments that linger in the mind after the film is over. There is also a typically Italian musical score, lush and somewhat overwrought, that nevertheless heightens what drama there is. It is particularly effective at the film's conclusion just before the final credits begin. The opening sequence is also very well done. Seberg and Stafford are off-camera arguing about where they will spend their vacation, while Cestie listens in. As the credits begin there is a cut to a 747 lifting off a runway during the twilight of early evening. When the film's title appears on screen there is then a cut to the sun-drenched seaside cliffs of the Italian coast. The set-up for the entire film is beautifully established in the course of a few minutes.
The performances are acceptable except for Seberg. It is easy and very sad to see why her acting career ended only a year later. She seems barely able to move or deliver her lines, let alone create a convincing character. It is nearly impossible to believe that this is the same actress who only ten years earlier gave such a powerful performance in the film "Lilith". Both Seberg and Stafford died in 1979.