6/10
Cliché, but has some good moments, some good performances and a really good score
19 August 2012
Also known as The Haunting of Julia, which is the title under which you can find it on Netflix Instant, which is about the only place where you can see it. This is a forgotten British haunted house flick from the late '70s (actually not released until 1981 in the United States). Mia Farrow stars along with her Rosemary's Baby haircut. In the prologue, her young daughter starts choking on an apple and Farrow, in a panic, tries to slice into her throat with a knife, thus making sure she's quite dead. Haunted by guilt, she ends up leaving her husband (2001's Keir Dullea) and moving into an old mansion in London. She soon realizes she's not alone. The film follows basic genre beats for the most part - appliances get left on, Farrow gets curious about the house's history, discovers its grisly past, does some investigations, etc., etc. It's not too interesting, really, but it has some good moments, notably its fantastic final moments, which are so good I would almost recommend the film for that alone (it's fairly short at 97 minutes). Farrow is fine, and Dullea isn't bad, but the rest of the cast, made up of mumbly Brits, is incoherent. I also really loved the score by Colin Towns.
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