Julias unheimliche Wiederkehr (1977)

Julias unheimliche Wiederkehr: Directed by Richard Loncraine. With Mia Farrow, Keir Dullea, Tom Conti, Jill Bennett. After her daughter’s death, wealthy American homemaker Julia Lofting moves to London to restart her life. All seems well until she is haunted by the ghosts of other children while mourning for her own.

“The 70u0026#39;s was undoubtedly the heyday for horror cinema, with some well known masterpieces such as Alien, The Exorcist, Suspiria, etc. Still, there were quite a few of them that were just as good, but didnu0026#39;t get the recognition they deserved, and are still quite obscure today. u0026quot;Full Circleu0026quot;, or as it is better known under itu0026#39;s US title u0026quot;The Haunting of Juliau0026quot;, is one of these cases. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIn many ways a hybrid of Nicolas Roegu0026#39;s u0026quot;Donu0026#39;t Look Nowu0026quot; and Mario Bavau0026#39;s u0026quot;Kill Baby … Killu0026quot;, is a slow-burning, intelligent horror film that genuinely scares the Hell out of you. Director Richard Loncraine goes for a stylish yet subtle approach at a somewhat old-fashioned ghost story formula, without resorting to u0026#39;in your faceu0026#39; scares that were popular at the time. While it does open with a bang and ends with a bang (probably the filmsu0026#39; most powerful and haunting sequences), Locraine goes instead for an interesting psychological analysis of a grieving motheru0026#39;s crisis over her daughteru0026#39;s death. Staring with small things that go grow more and more nasty as the story progresses, and the line between fantasy and reality becomes more and more blurry, The events that go on through the film may well be figment of her imagination, and the fact that, by the filmu0026#39;s shocking climax, you still donu0026#39;t know for sure if it did happen at all, only adds to itu0026#39;s creepiness and strange atmosphere. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eItu0026#39;s snail-like pace works both for and against it, as some might find it particularly fascinating and delightfully unnerving, while others might find it dull and uninteresting. In fact, it does move a little too slow for itu0026#39;s own sake, but Mia Farrowu0026#39;s gripping, strong performance and Locraimeu0026#39;s visual flourishes help it from becoming uninteresting. Speaking of visuals, the film is beautifully photographed by Peter Hannan, but sadly it does show itu0026#39;s full aesthetic power in the bad VHS print itu0026#39;s available on. Nevertheless, one can still see itu0026#39;s impact on the film, particularly on making the wintry streets of London and the old-dark-house setting even more menacing.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe film also benefits from having a lovingly melancholic and often genuinely spooky score by Colin Towns, which blends perfectly with itu0026#39;s visual brilliance, as well as perfectly capturing the charactersu0026#39; emotions. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eOverall, a sadly unrecognized classic which, in spite of itu0026#39;s few flaws, deserves much more praise. 9/10”