Die screaming? Die of boredom more like. Pete Walker’s first venture into the horror genre after producing cheap sexploitation flicks is a pretty dull affair. More thriller than horror, its plot doesn’t bear too much examination but deals with a wandering go-go dancer, Marianne (played by Susan George), who holds the key (by way of the number of a Swiss bank account) to the family fortune. As well as money there are also incriminating documents that could convict her father, an ex-judge, of illegal activities, so he, and her half sister Hildegarde, want Marianne found. When Sebastian, a past acquaintance of Hildegarde, finds Marianne he attempts to marry her in hopes of getting his hands on the money. When that plan backfires he persuades her, and her new lover Eli, to return to her family home in Portugal.
This is a convoluted mess, there’s little logic behind much of what happens – why does Marianne suddenly decide to return home when she’s only days away from being able to access the account (she must turn 21 before she can get her hands on the money)? There’s no suspense, with Marianne never seeming to be in much danger, her most life threatening moment comes when she’s trapped in the sauna, a trap she easily escapes from.
Susan George at least adds a little eye candy and does her best to make a character of Marianne, even though the script is against her. As The Judge, Leo Genn starts off sleazy and menacing, playing a wonderfully perverted scene with Judy Huxtable as daughter Hildegarde, but the film then wastes that build-up and instead makes Hildegarde the films main villain. Barry Evans, of Doctor in the House fame, makes little impression as Eli, while Christopher Sandford is unbelievable as lady-killer Sebastian, who seduces both Marianne and Hildegarde. Surely even in the ‘70s that hairstyle wasn’t cool?
The film may not have much to recommend it but, if you can stay awake, it does deliver a nice downbeat ending. That and the delectable Ms George are all it has going for it.
