Don’t look now (1973)

Director: Nicolas Roeg

Starring: Julie Christie, Donald Sutherland, Hilary Mason

A married couple grieving the recent death of their young daughter are in Venice when they encounter two elderly sisters, one of whom is psychic and brings a warning from beyond.

The only reason I decided to watch ‘Don’t look now’ is because it appears on so many lists of creepiest movies. Naturally – being a horror fan – I was curious.

Uhm, creepy? No. Mysterious? Yes. This might have been considered creepy or haunting back in the day, but certainly not by today’s standards. I found the film slow moving and rather weird, with the most unconventional editing. There’s a lengthy sex scene and I can’t help but wonder whether it was really necessary. Every scene drags as if I was watching it in slow motion. At times it even appeared as if the characters themselves had very little motivation. Donald Sutherland tried as hard as he could, but I didn’t feel the sense of urgency I expected from his character given his situation. The entire film lacked energy and emotion.

Julie Christie’s character, Laura, was so all over the place that she became just too much. Was she really all she appeared to be? I’m clearly missing the point, as the film didn’t make much sense to me as a whole. There obviously are cryptic clues, but I wasn’t interested enough to analyze them. A lot will no doubt make more sense with a second viewing, but why should a film need more than one viewing to fully understand or appreciate it? No thanks, this is not my cup of tea.

The best part about the movie was the setting in beautiful Venice.

Would I watch it again? Yawn…what?