Review of Lemora: A Child's Tale of the Supernatural (1974) by Chris S — 09 Oct 2009

A 1970's cult classic. Or so they say.

The movie is mostly about a young girl drawn out of her church to her dying father only to be trapped in a world of mysterious creatures and a strange woman that protects the young child in her house.

The movie itself is pretty confusing and has a very slow pace. The beginning shows promise when Lina, the young child, is taking her journey to the strange town mentionned in the letter she received. Arriving at Lemora's house though, the film has no true plot and the viewer is brought in a series of images and situations that shows no true meaning to the story. That is the most difficult part of the film, and the audience member could easily unhook from the film and leave.

Yet, the lovely Cheryl "Rainbeaux" Smith keeps you captivated as it is hard to lay your eyes off of her. I guess the innocent look of it's main character is what saves this film.

Lemora is a scary character. I can also see how she, and her household, is considered as one of the stepping stones of the gothic movement. Sadly though, the acting is as lifeless as the vampire lady itself.

The truly bad part of the film, like in most early 70's flicks, is the audio. There was a time period where everyone would add extra sounds after the movie was shot. The laughing kids, the monsters, the voice-overs, they all sound odd compared to the rest of the flick, and sometimes annoying.

On the good side, the conclusion (the last 5 minutes of the flick) are quite good. Most of the things comes together and the final scene is interesting.

I can see how this became a cult classic but I can also see why most people do not like this movie and find it boring. A movie to see if you are a fan of the genre.