Rating: 3/5
Cult Movie Challenge 2016 | 34/52 | American International
John and Louise row out on the lake at night, John’s radio giggling generic rockabilly. Louise argues that John’s mother’s will isn’t any good and that they should talk her into giving John more. John’s getting nothing — all the money is going to charity in the name of someone named “Kathleen.”
John has a heart attack. Louise digs through his jacket for the pills, but the pill case is empty. John laughs, telling Louise that if he dies, she gets nothing. She rows to shore, angry and desperate. But it’s no use. John dies in the boat, his terrible rockabilly playing on the radio.
Louise throws John overboard. Her plan? Pretend John is away on business so she can wait out her mother-in-law’s death and claim the inheritance.
Surreal images of his body floating across ghostly shapes. A woman’s hair sprouting bubbles and flowers. An anchor and a cross.
Louise drafts a letter as John inviting Louise to the family castle in Ireland, Castle Haloran. John’s brothers, Billy and Richard, believe that the ghost of Kathleen haunts the castles. Kathleen was their sister, who died in a drowning accident years ago. Every year, the Halorans gather to remember Kathleen.
Louise concocts her plan: to convince Lady Haloran that Kathleen’s ghost is haunting her, driving her to an early grave.
The script for this movie was a rush job. Coppola shot a film with Coreman, who had the extra budget. Coreman originally intended to make a quickie himself. But Coppola took a stab at a rough plot, and Coreman gave the movie to him.
This film has a budget-friendly gothic atmosphere - creepy castle, secretive family, schemes.
The movie has some solid underwater photography! The cinematography, though economical, has perspective. I wonder how much Charles Hannawalt contributed to that perspective.
Luana Anders is so good! She develops a complex performance for a rather single-note character. I forget how good she is until I see her in another movie.
Tom Petty’s lyric, “She was an American girl, raised on promises,” is stated verbatim in this movie. Is this where it came from, or is that concept vague enough to transcend a single source?
I liked this! I don’t know enough about Francis Ford Coppola to say how this compares to his career, but it’s one of the better Corman horror movies from the period.