THE SAVAGE CURSE (1974)
aka KISS ME AND DIE
Article 1931 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 6-28-2006
Posting Date: 11-25-2006
Directed by John Sichel
Featuring Jenny Agutter, George Chakiris, Anton Diffring

An American detective tries to figure out what happened to his brother who disappeared right after having been invited to a party at an English manor. The head of the manor is a possessive father with a fascination for the works of Poe.

This movie was apparently part of a British series known as “Thriller”. From its rating of 9.0 on IMDB at the time of this writing, I can only conclude that the movie has something of a strong following, and I’m sure that part of this is due to the presence of Jenny Agutter, an actress with a strong cult following. She does a fine job here, but it’s Anton Diffring’s performance as the possessive father that catches my attention the most. In fact, the whole cast does quite well; however, I’m less impressed with the story as a whole, which I think is slow-moving, talky, and a little too obvious. Once you meet the father, hear about his fascination with Poe, and learn that his daughter’s boyfriends have all disappeared mysteriously, there’s not much in the way of surprises to help hold the interest. Granted, it’s also a TV-Movie, which is a form I usually only warm up to if the production is exceptionally good, and this one is just a bit too ordinary for my taste. Most of the fun is due to the acting and the Poe references, but a more interesting story would have helped immensely.