☆ ☆ ☆ ½
The Haunting of Julia (1977) – R. Loncraine
I guess I agree
with those who complain that the plot isn’t exactly coherent here, but if you
just treat this as a chilly and spooky Seventies horror, complete with
piano/weird synth soundtrack, and that is your thing, then it is highly
enjoyable. The opening moments of the film are the most difficult to watch: Mia
Farrow and Keir Dullea lose their daughter to a choking accident. This sets the stage for a film about grief –
and ghosts. Julia (Farrow) retreats to a
newly purchased London house in Bayswater, separating from selfish Dullea who
continues to hound her, and seeking support in easy-going Tom Conti. Soon,
however, she is hearing noises in the old house and the heater keeps getting
cranked up. A séance reveals that the
ghost may not actually be her own daughter – so, she does some digging into the
history of the house and the neighborhood.
But then people start dying. The
film never quite shows us any ghosts and it is possible, just possible, that Julia
may be going crazy… You know this film
already! A mood piece.
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