It may not scare you too much anymore, but this Robert Fuest film is the
kind of film that would’ve scared me witless as a kid. Girls go missing
(usually named Sue Ellen or Mary Jane…don’t ask me why, that’s just the
version I’m always hearing about these supposedly true crimes), there’s a
killer running around, young girls helpless in a foreign land etc.
Two
young English nurses touring French countryside have an argument and the
repressed, good-girl (a well-cast Pamela Franklin) leaves her friend in
anger. Big mistake. Time passes and a creepy-looking motorist (Sandor
Eles) who seemed to have eyes for the missing girl, turns up and offers
Franklin assistance, while the rest of the townsfolk seem downright surly
(apart from a few mutterings about a murder).
Aren’t we told that those
most willing to offer assistance are the ones we need to be wary of? What
about the English teacher (Clare Kelly) who just ‘happened’ to be ‘passing
by’ and also offers help? The townsfolk seem less guilty by comparison,
but what are they hiding?
We really don’t know who to trust here, one of
the film’s strengths. Only in the last minutes are the revelations a
little easier to predict.
OVERALL SUMMARY
Creepy, deep bushland and some scary scenes that would not normally seem
scary (being in a country looking for your missing friend, and unable to
understand the language doesn’t help your chances of finding her!) Much of
the cast and crew worked on ‘Dr. Who’, but aside from a lame music score,
this is good B-grade stuff, very atmospheric for its low-budget.
