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| Don't Look Now [1973] | ![Don't Look Now [1973]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/416G0447QHL._SL160_.jpg)
 enlarge | Director: Nicolas Roeg
Actors: Julie Christie, Donald Sutherland, Hilary Mason, Clelia Matania, Massimo Serato
Studio: Warner Home Video
Category: DVD
List Price: £13.99
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Avg. Customer Rating:  (57 reviews)
Sales Rank: 18164
Format: Pal
Languages: English (Original Language), Italian (Original Language)
Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Media: DVD
Running Time: 105 minutes
Number Of Items: 1
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
EAN: 7321900380874
ASIN: B00006FN5V
Release Date: July 29, 2002
Theatrical Release Date: January 1974
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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Amazon.co.uk Review
Don't Look Now was filmed in 1973 and based around a Daphne Du Maurier novel. Directed by Nicolas Roeg, it has lost none of its chill: like Kubrick's The Shining, its dazzling use of juxtaposition, colour, sound and editing make it a seductive experience in cinematic terror, whose aftershock lingers in daydreams and nightmares, filling you with uncertainty and dread even after its horrific climax. Donald Sutherland plays John Baxter, an architect, Julie Christie his wife: a well-to-do couple whose young daughter drowns while out playing. Cut to Venice, out of season, where the couple encounter a pair of sisters, one of whom claims psychic powers and to have communicated with their dead daughter. The subsequent plot is as labyrinthine as the back streets of the city itself, down which Baxter spots a diminutive and elusive red-coated figure akin to his daughter, before being drawn into an almost unbearable finale. Don't Look Now is a Gothic masterpiece, with its melange of gore, mystery, ecstasy, the supernatural and above all grief, while the city of Venice itself--which thanks to Roeg and his team seems to breathe like a dark, sinister living organism throughout the movie--deserves a credit in its own right. Not just a magnificent drama but an advanced feat of cinema. --David Stubbs
Special Features
English
Region 2
Synopsis
Nicolas Roeg's third film--after the brash PERFORMANCE (1970) and meditative WALKABOUT (1971)--is a haunting thriller that confirmed the director's status as a true visionary. Based on a story by Daphne Du Maurier, DON'T LOOK NOW follows a grieving English couple to Venice, where the past continues to plague them. John Baxter (Donald Sutherland) and his wife Laura (Julie Christie) are in mourning for their young daughter, who drowned tragically near their home. John takes a job in Venice so that the couple can leave the past behind, but, unfortunately, the past is not easily forgotten. While John begins to see unsettling visions of a young girl in a red coat running through the Venice streets, Laura learns from an elderly psychic that her husband is in grave danger. What follows is an eerie, erotic mystery that builds to a shockingly horrific climax. DON'T LOOK NOW is one of the most daring and influential motion pictures of the 1970s. From Pino Donaggio's atmospheric score to Graeme Clifford's elliptical editing (exemplified in the film's notorious sex scene), Roeg's film is a stylistic achievement. Sutherland and Christie are their typical phenomenal selves playing the bereaved, devastated couple.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 52 more reviews...
 Creeping, undefined dread June 4, 2008
Hitchcock used an example to explain the difference between surprise and suspense. If people are seated at a table and a bomb explodes, that is surprise. If they are seated at a table, and you know there's a bomb under the table attached to a ticking clock, but they continue to play cards -- that's suspense. There's a bomb under "Dont Look Now" for excruciating stretches of time.
I was expecting this slow-moving movie to descend into routine shock and horror movie,but it doesn't. Most of the movie is all waiting, anticipating and dreading. The jolts that come about midway are of a similar magnitude to movies such as Sixth Sense or The Exorcist.
The film is slow moving, but it manages to expertly linger to create atmosphere, a sense of place, a sympathy with the characters, instead of rushing into cheap thrills. Dont Look Now stands as one of the most beautiful and moving "horror" movies in the 1970s...even though it is not really a horror movie; it's more of a psychological thriller.
As it gears up for a truly unexpected, emotionally draining finale - destined to please or frustrate depending on how nihilistic you like your horror - this elegant ghost story ignores genre conventions to deliver a touching tale of motherhood, love and what may or may not lie on the other side.
 Surprised by the amount of good reviews... February 28, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This film dissapointed me a lot, but i didn't hate it.
The amount of good reviews on this film seems good though i don't quite understand why. For a start don't look now is NOT a proper horror movie, but more of a thriller. I didnt enjoy it as much as i would have liked to. Why? It was very slow moving, didnt seem to get into a proper story until later on, there wasnt many flashbacks of the dead child which surprised me because i expected the little girl to flash back quite often with it saying she is still alive on the back of the case.
If you expect a strong storyline with a lot of jumps, this film isnt for you.
Watch this film - but be open minded December 18, 2006
3 out of 6 found this review helpful
Having watched this film and read several of the previous reviews, it is obvious that opinion on this film greatly divides those who have seen it.
If you are wanting a horror film in the typical Hollywood "blood/guts/gore" tradition then this film is definitely not for you.
The film explores the relationship between a couple after the death of their daughter but also has an element of the supernatural when a psychic reveals that she has seen the ghost of the couple's daughter and also gives a stark warning that the husband is is danger.
The film has a sense of overwhelming foreboding, shot in sombre tones in a rather dreary looking out-of-season Venice, and uses the colour red to create a sense of danger and dread that can be sensed through the whole film. The direction uses a plethora of recurring themes that at first may seem strange and confusing but all becomes apparent during the horrific climax.
This is not a white knuckle, edge of the seat blockbuster, but rather a more sedate film that builds the tension and brooding foreboding to a climactic end. The sex/dressing scene is intensely personal and intimate but works because of its simplicity and honesty, and is superbly acted by both Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland.
This is not the normal run-of-the-mill Hollywood film but watch it with an open mind and you may just find that you like it.
It's not a horror movie December 7, 2006
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
This is a classic. Astonishing that so many reviewers seem to miss the point entirely. They seem to have been expecting a horror movie. Obviously they will have been disappointed. It's not a horror movie. It's a movie. There aren't shock-a-minute stings and stabs. It doesn't stick to the Syd Field screenplay structure. This is subtle stuff. The colour red punctuates the imagery with such effect that it soon ellicits an instant feeling of dread wherever it appears - even when it's just a red candle in the corner of the room in which the priest awakes with a start: it's a premonition of tragedy. It's far more disturbing than the usual horror slash-fest because it's dealing with genuine grief - our inability to believe that someone is really gone, especially when they die young.
Only those whose brains have been stolen by Hollywood could fail to be moved by this story.
Cyrus November 13, 2006
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
Judging by some of these inept reviews, it's clear to see the I Know What You Did Last Summer generation couldn't identify a true horror classic even it stabbed them in their backs!
Nic Roeg's career-defining movie is a true masterclass in suspense. The eerie Venetian setting is perfect as a grieving couple come to terms with the premature loss of their daughter. Roeg's subtle direction adds to the clever plot-line to generate an overbearing uneasiness which culminates in a truely nerve-shattering climax.
Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland are both superb as they unknowingly veer toward a tragic, inevitable fate. The intercut sex scene/dressing scene is truely convincing and importantly cements the relationship between the two characters. Though often imitated but never bettered (see Out of Sight) the scene remains one of the most erotic and genuine in cinematic history.
A true all time classic!
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