By Richard Winters
My Rating: 8 out of 10
4-Word Review: Business trip turns deadly.
Ian (Edward Woodward) is the father of 14-year-0ld Joanne (Samantha Weyson) who is set to have an all-important violin solo and wants to make sure that her father is there. However, Ian is forced to make a business trip and not able to attend, which upsets her. That night he has strange dreams that seem to warn him of impending danger. The next morning, he sets out on his drive, but notices things are eerily similar to what occurred in his dream the night prior. Is he speeding into a deadly scenario and can he turn around before it’s too late?
This was originally intended to be a British TV-Movie, but when production received a large investment from one of its backers it allowed them a bigger budget for the special effects convincing the producers that this would work better on the big screen. Sadly, despite the excellent effects, they were unable to find a distributor, and it soon fell into obscurity. For a long time, many considered it a ‘lost film’ until Sony was able to retrieve a quality print that allowed it to be released onto Blu-ray where it’s now achieved a new and fervent fanbase.
The film is effectively spooky, but what grabbed me most was its vivid depiction of parenting a teen daughter, which many people who’ve been through it will say is far scarier than any horror movie. The inner dynamics in which the father attempts to exert authority but ends up emotionally manipulated by his moody daughter is completely on target. These moments are actually the creepiest particularly the prolonged, unblinking stare that she gives him while in the living room.
The car accident is masterfully choreographed featuring amazing camera work like the shot from underneath the speeding vehicle during the tire blowout. Having the car go off the cliff and land in a tree and then watching Woodward teeter upside down is equally compelling and even more impressive when you factor in that this was all done decades before CG or AI was even a thing. If there is one reason to see the film, and repeat viewings, it would be for this sequence alone.
However, the dream sequence that comes before it dilutes some of its impact. Too many moments from the accident get played out during the nightmare, so when the viewer finally gets to the real thing it becomes redundant. I did like the use of the big dogs, and I felt that the dream should’ve just had them, but nothing about the car, so that way when we finally do get to the accident it comes off as fresh and surprising.
The script does have its share of confusing imagery that muddles the story. While the death of the car mechanic is imaginative, I didn’t understand the point of it as he seems to be working on the car at the exact same time that Woodward is driving it. The opening scene involving a young schoolgirl going into a forest and getting ‘snatched’ by an evil spirit is equally convoluted. Sure, it’s scary, but what’s the point? Had it been Joanne it would’ve made more sense that she got connected with some evil force years earlier and now this has allowed her to do cruel things, but because it wasn’t her it just adds to more unanswered questions.
Spoiler Alert!
The ending is adequate, as it shows Joanne petting the evil dogs, which implies that she had some connection to her father’s freaky death, but I would’ve liked more of a conclusion. For instance, did she intentionally wish for the accident to occur, or did the entity come up with the idea on its own?
The film portrays her as being self-absorbed and desperate for attention, but if that were the case then killing her father would’ve worked against this. Narcists want validation, but this can only occur if other people are around to supply it and with the dad dead that was no longer going to happen. Would’ve made more sense had he been put on the brink of death only to be saved by a rescue team. He could then have come home in an injured, shaken state and be told if he ever crossed her again, he’d get the same treatment.
Or it could’ve gone the other way, where the father does perish, and then Joanne comes home to her teary-eyed mother who gives her the bad news. She could then warn her traumatized mom by saying: ‘You better make sure you’re always supportive, or otherwise the same thing will happen to you.’
My Rating: 8 out of 10
Released: 1982 (Direct-to-video)
Runtime: 1 Hour 29 Minutes
Not Rated
Director: Lindsay C. Vickers
Studio: First Principle Film Productions
Available: DVD, Blu-ray, The Criterion Channel
