Pop quiz: What do Sophie Thatcher and writer/director Dave Boyle have in common?
If you’ve been following Dread Central on social media over the past few months, then you probably know that I sat down with both of them to talk about their respective projects, Her Private Hell and Never After Dark. Despite the two films being vastly different–one is a genre-bending, giallo-tinged neo-noir; the other, an atmospheric ghost story with shades of 2000s J-horror–they share a surprising influence: Nicolas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now.
While many filmmakers and horror fans consider the 1973 psychological thriller a classic and a major influence on filmmaking as a whole–you can see its fingerprints on everything from Lynne Ramsay’s We Need to Talk About Kevin to Ari Aster’s Hereditary, and even on films as disparate as Casino Royale, In Bruges, Schindler’s List, and Submarine–Don’t Look Now is still a relatively underseen film, at least among mainstream audiences. And with horror having a major moment, I think it’s a good time to introduce newcomers in the genre to Don’t Look Now.
If you’re a horror fan around my age, then I’m sure you were introduced to the film via Bravo’s 2004 countdown special, The 100 Scariest Movie Moments. Even though the miniseries spoiled the shocking twist ending, when I finally watched it in its entirety a decade later, the scene was just as effective as it had been when I watched it in my family’s living room years earlier. If you haven’t seen it yet, don’t worry, I won’t spoil anything here. For better or worse, I’m not a Bravo executive.
Based on Daphne du Maurier’s short story of the same name, Don’t Look Now follows John (Donald Sutherland) and Laura Baxter (Julie Christie), an English couple grieving the loss of their young daughter, Christine, who drowned in a pond just outside of their country home. They’ve traveled to Venice, where John has been commissioned to restore the mosaics in an old church that will eventually “sink into the sea.” One day, after joining Laura at a restaurant, the couple meet Wendy (Clelia Matania) and her blind sister Heather (Hilary Mason), who tells Laura that she can “see” Christine sitting happily between them.
Laura is comforted by Heather’s vision, so much so that she and John finally have sex (it’s a beautiful scene, but it remains one of the most controversial sex scenes in cinema to this day). But John isn’t so easily convinced. He’s a rational man. An atheist, even. So when the sisters begin warning Laura that she needs to leave Venice before something terrible happens, John dismisses them, even as a series of murders begins to terrorize the city.
I know that most of us are tired of horror movies about grief and trauma, but part of the reason why Don’t Look Now is so effective (and still feels fresh and interesting since its release) is that it never feels like it’s repeatedly hitting you over the head with it. Grief and trauma are major themes here, and those who’ve experienced loss will surely appreciate the way they’re handled here, but the film is also an exploration of memory, denial, spirituality vs. skepticism, and the ways we try to make sense of the things we can’t explain. It’s a movie that rewards revisiting, too. At least for me, I get something new out of it every time I watch it, whether it’s a detail I missed before or a completely different way of looking at John and Laura, their relationship, the sisters, and the city.
I know I have a type when it comes to the movies I write about here (What can I say? I’m a sucker for great lighting and cinematography), but it’s impossible to talk about Don’t Look Now without mentioning its strategic use of color. Roeg turns Venice, one of the most stunning and crowded cities in the world, into an almost mystical, shadowy labyrinth sitting on murky green water. The muted color palette makes the appearance of a small figure running in and out of the tunnels in a bright red coat–much like the one Christine wore when she died–all the more striking (Fun fact: the film’s costume designer, Marit Allen, also did the costumes for Eyes Wide Shut and Brokeback Mountain, two movies that also explore relationships, denial, and regret).
After speaking with Thatcher and Boyle, I revisited Don’t Look Now, and I could see why it immediately came up in both conversations. I won’t give much away about Her Private Hell or Never After Dark–I think both movies benefit from going into them with as little information as possible–but each film takes different elements from Don’t Look Now and plays with them in interesting ways.
So take this as your sign to give Don’t Look Now a watch. Don’t read any reviews. Don’t take a peek at Letterboxd. Don’t watch a YouTube video explaining it first. I’m sure someone will argue it’s impossible to spoil a 50-year-old movie, but there really is a first time for everything, especially for new or young horror fans who didn’t grow up watching countdowns on TV. Don’t Look Now still has plenty to say about grief, love, faith, and the things we can’t explain, and it’s still as shocking and as relevant as ever.
Categorized:Editorials