15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Delicious and Spooky Thriller, January 31, 2005
This review is from: Night Watch (1973) [VHS] (VHS Tape)
Absolute delicious fun. Standard plot of woman (with shaky mental history) in big house witnessing murder as storm rages and then having her husband and "best friend" doubt her sanity is very well done here and loads of suspenseful fun to watch. Are her husband and "best female friend" in a plot to drive her mad and steal her fortune? What's going on in the house next door?
Elizabeth Taylor is perfect as the beleaguered woman -- magnificent looking, as usual, and waltzing around in Valentino gowns with plenty of "rocks" on view (gifts from Burton?) (hey -- what's with those kaftans and the Gothic sleeves on the cranberry dress? She was in her jet-setty "kaftans-and jewelry" stage, ever a glamorous movie star!). Whether waking up in the wee hours or running through a thunderstorm, her makeup is always perfect replete with glossy lipstick! That's part of the fun.
But the suspense is handled very well and hubbie and best friend are indeed well cast, too. Are they or aren't they in league? Yes, calvalcades of female stars have been put through this sort of wringer (Barbara Stanwyck, Olivia DeHavilland, Jean Simmons, Mia Farrow, the list goes on) and the results can be hit or miss, but here it's hit. Entertaining stuff with some genuinely surprising twists (that are a hoot alone to behold!)
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Night Has Many Eyes, November 1, 2011
Lucille Fletcher wrote several clever suspense stories back in the mid-1900s, the most famous one being
Sorry, Wrong Number, in which a homebound paraplegic woman accidentally overhears a terrifying phone conversation and realizes that her life is in danger. Fletcher's 1971 Broadway play, NIGHT WATCH, had a similar premise, only this time the troubled woman doesn't hear something awful--she sees it. The play was filmed in 1973 as a vehicle for Elizabeth Taylor.
Taylor plays Ellen Wheeler, a rich widow who has recently married again. She's recovering from a nervous breakdown caused by her first husband's death in a car accident while running away with another woman. Ellen sits in her big house in London, fretting over her dead spouse's betrayal and growing increasingly suspicious of her new husband (Laurence Harvey) and her best friend (Billie Whitelaw). Is hubby #2 cheating on her like #1? Is he having an affair with her friend? Are they trying to drive her crazy, planning to do her in for her fortune? These are her thoughts one dark and stormy night when she happens to look out her rear window, over at the abandoned mansion that shares her backyard. A shutter has come loose on an upstairs window of the empty house, and it's flapping in the storm. She leans forward, staring at that window, and...I won't say any more, but I will say that the original posters for the movie showed an extreme closeup of Taylor's terrified face above the caption: "What this woman sees will haunt you for the rest of your life."
I've been a fan of this dark thriller ever since I first saw it in a theater in 1973, and it's now available as a DVD-R from Warner's wonderful Archive Collection. It's a nifty, intelligent mystery with some genuine surprises. Taylor is excellent, and she's matched by the rest of the cast. Director Brian G. Hutton (WHERE EAGLES DARE) uses every trick in the Hitchcock handbook to build the tension, and the final scenes are truly terrifying. The newly remastered DVD has great picture and sound, much better than all previous versions. The very dark night scenes have been clarified so you can actually see what's happening, and some of the music cues have been altered for the better (they replaced that incessant theme song with more appropriate music in several scenes). If you're already a fan of this movie, you've never seen it like this. And if you're simply looking for sleek suspense, you won't want to miss this Taylor tour de force.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Thriller at its best!, November 5, 2005
This review is from: Night Watch (1973) [VHS] (VHS Tape)
One of the most momorable movies in years. Still with me all these years. Elizabeth Taylor outstanding. Atmosphere contribute to making this a spine chilling thriller. Would love this movie on dvd.
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