Grimerlana Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

Maidexpl Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

FirstWitch A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Ginger Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Sugarbehr1967 The premise of the movie is simple enough..Cathy, a young, beautiful girl arrives in America to find work, meets Kenneth, a handsome young photographer, they fall in love, but it turns out the young man isn't all he seems to be, and when she learns she's pregnant, she decides she doesn't want him-or the baby and has an abortion, and he decides to seek revenge.The setting is San Francisco, and the visuals are well played out in the city, along with a taut, tense script by Lorenzo Semple and Larry Cohen, with sure footed direction by Mark Robson, fresh off of his smash hit 'Valley of the Dolls' two years earlier. The cast includes Mala Powers as a sympathetic coworker of Cathy's who talks her into the abortion, Paul Burke (fresh off of his work as Lyon Burke in 'Valley') as Cathy's new husband, a senator wanna be, and of course, Scott Hylands, who as Kenneth, brings a creepiness to his role, but at the same time, you do feel for him as the spurned lover who wants revenge for the abortion that Cathy decides to get.The only weak link in this movie is Carol White as Cathy. Beautiful as the young Brit who arrives to seek work and becomes involved in a nightmare, is harsh, childish, and for most of the movie, a total bitch. You never feel how Paul Burke's character fell for her, suddenly they are wedded, and there is very little passion between them in their scenes. She comes across shrill, completely obnoxious, and downright hateful. You wonder if she really wanted to have a baby in the first place with the way she acts. For the most part, this movie is a fine addition to the 'damsel in distress' genre, but having a heroine that is more sympathetic might have worked much better.

Cujo108 After the man she's been seeing turns out to be mentally (and financially) unstable, Cathy aborts his baby and moves on with her life. She eventually marries a political hopeful and once again finds herself pregnant. While shopping for a crib, she sees her former flame, Kenneth, working as a department store Santa. He spots her too, but the real bad news for Cathy is that he notices she's carrying another child. Bad news for her and her baby, but would Kenneth resort to killing a child as vengeance for the death of his own?Mark Robson (The Seventh Victim, Valley of the Dolls) directs this morbid little gem, a film with some rather potent subject matter, particularly for the time it was made. Melding the incredibly touchy subject of abortion with a psycho-suspense storyline, Robson crafts an effective film full of bizarre mood and situations. As Cathy becomes more and more guilty over what she did, we see how it works into her psyche, and images as simple as toys yapping on a table take on a rather perverse feeling that gets under the viewer's skin. Robson knows how to utilize such elements to their maximum effect, though never in an overly graphic manner. The use of subtlety and implied horror goes a long way here.As Kenneth, Scott Hylands is one of the creepiest nutcases you'll see. He has the most unnerving eyes, and a rather blank glare that truly makes one feel uncomfortable. The scene where he learns of the abortion is downright chilling. He puts Cathy through some real psychological torment, one of the standout moments being a nasty surprise he leaves under her car. Carol White plays Cathy, and she's fine in the role, but I find her character to be quite unlikable due to her incessant bitchiness.This is a great film, well acted, well directed... The climax is quite thrilling as well. This is not your typical psycho story, and it is really quite unique in it's storytelling. Disturbing and effective, I highly recommend this one.

capkronos In my opinion, this is a much better film than some people on here are giving it credit for. Young Brit Cathy Palmer (Carol White) has just arrived stateside and is looking to make a fresh start in San Francisco. Almost immediately upon arriving, she runs across handsome Kenneth Daly (Scott Hylands), a charmer whose idea of making a good first impression involves nailing her in the back of the head with a snowball. Ken shows her around, takes her to dinner and uses his connections to help her land a good job at an ad agency. Eventually, the two are living together, but various red flags are making Cathy question their relationship. Ken is immature, aimless, can't seem to hold onto a job (and can't decide whether he wants to be an actor or a photographer) and is cruel to her pet cat. Aside from that, she senses there's something else not quite right about him. Fed up, Cathy decides to end the relationship. One problem; she's pregnant. Her co-worker Meg (Mala Powers) helps her arrange an abortion through gynecologist Dr. Parkington (Dennis Patrick). Things go off without a hitch, except Cathy decided to go through with the procedure without informing Ken.After he slaps her across the face in a crowded restaurant, Cathy moves on with her life and wants to put the whole experience behind her. She meets and eventually marries Jack Byrnes (Paul Burke), a successful and wealthy lawyer who's well on his way to becoming a powerful (conservative) politician. Cathy becomes pregnant with Jack's child. Just when things are looking up for her, Ken comes back into the picture, a little unhinged and looking for revenge... He stalks her, blackmails her and weasels his way into her new home, kills the doctor who performed the abortion and otherwise makes her life a living hell. After she gives birth, he demands she kill her new baby to make up for the fact she "murdered" his. When this doesn't happen, he kidnaps the baby and tries to manipulate Cathy into killing it using various clever and sadistic methods than will startle even modern viewers.Some people seem to think this film is pushing a certain agenda, and maybe it is to a degree. Oddly, some see it taking a Pro Life stance, while others see a Pro Choice stance, which is a testament to how well made the film actually is. Both sides of the abortion debate are touched on and they're covered in a realistic and matter-of-fact way thanks to the intriguing and non-preachy screenplay from horror master Larry Cohen (IT'S ALIVE) and Lorenzo Semple, Jr. (PRETTY POISON). When Cathy goes to get her abortion it's done secretly, but not in some grimy back alley like you usually see, but a brightly lit clinic by a respectable doctor. Cathy seems somewhat haunted by her decision and hesitant to tell the truth about it for fear of the social stigma surrounding her decision. She's also afraid of being thrown out by her politico husband, but her husband turns out to be completely supportive and non-judgmental about it when she's forced to reveal the truth. The only one coming down on her and labeling her a "murderer" is Ken himself, and he's out of his mind. Make what you want of that.The film was made four years before the landmark Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision (in 1973), so the subject matter was probably quite risqué for the time. Some of the psychological torment Ken puts Cathy through is also pretty strong stuff for 1969, especially to people who hate seeing defenseless infants put in harm's way. Be forewarned that it's slow to get started, but when it finally picks up about half-an-hour in it's shocking, very suspenseful, somewhat horrific and even thought-provoking. In my opinion, it's good enough to deserve a decent DVD release from a respectable company and good enough to deserve a reevaluation from critics, mystery/thriller fans and horror film buffs. Many of its themes even pre-date the highly influential PLAY MISTY FOR ME (1971), which went on to influence such films as FATAL ATTACTION (1987) and BASIC INSTINCT (1992). If you can find it, I definitely recommend a watch.

marbleann I haven't seen this movie in years. It is rarely shown on cable. I was just a kid when I fist saw this movie. And even then I got the message. A very scary one. A young woman goes out with the Scott Hyland character. She soon finds out that he is not Mr Wonderful and in matter of fact he is a nut. She finds she is pregnant and she obtains a abortion. She moves on with her life and marries Paul Burke and she gets pregnant. The ex finds out about it and decides to kill everyone who has anything to do with her abortion and is after her to kill the baby she is carrying. This movie must of been the poster movie for the right to life movement, but it is scary. The message is do not have a abortion because in the end people are going to pay for it in a bad way. Well the message should of been watch out for psychopathic boyfriends and use birth control. I don't know what I would do if I was in her position but whatever I did I would hope people would not get killed over it. I loved this movie, even though it does political undertones. It is scary because I can see something like that really happening. Scott Hylands was excellent, he scared me. I just wish this movie would come out on DVD.