Interesting and neglected
Child's Play review
By
spinynorman from Blackpool
- 1
- 0
20th December 2009
This dark psychological thriller, of creepy goings-on in a respected Catholic boys' boarding school, is mysteriously unavailable on DVD. Sure, it's dated, and not everything about it is perfect (star Beau Bridges' hairstyle being a good example), but it's intelligently scripted, well-directed by Sidney Lumet and features excellent leading performances by that great film actor James Mason - as the ageing, unpopular, cracking-up teacher who believes he is being hounded out of the school - and Robert Preston (replacing Marlon Brando, who was originally slated for the role) as the boys' benevolent favourite, whom Mason's character believes is behind his persecution.
Momentum is sustained until the final scene, and for those who want their thrillers cerebral rather than physical, this is a neglected little gem from the 1970s, certainly Hollywood's most cerebral film decade. Is its unavailability due to copyright restrictions, I wonder, or because it dares to paint a certain group of children as malevolent? (Not a fashionable view in our truth-denying times.) Well worth £2.49.
