Review of Play Misty for Me (1971) by Collier W — 21 Mar 2011

In Eastwood's first feature as director, he has his work cut out for him: subvert Cinema's favorite narrative, the love story, and convince us that true love is not around the bend. Jessica Walter's manic performance doesn't hurt, but in an idiom where proclamations of love are taken at face value, in a time when stalking was not yet a household word, things could have gone horribly awry.

This can be appreciated as camp, to be sure, but anyone who's had a lover come on too much too soon will feel a familiar sense of building unease as this afternoon delight leads us to its horrifying twin climaxes.

The kind of daylight suspense shocker that the movie of the week was made for.