Review of Repulsion (1965) by Alexandra W — 24 Feb 2011

Kind of an interesting bridge between "low-key" (a relative term in the context of modern horror) horror films like Psycho and the more overtly violent slashers of the 1970s (usually featuring female antagonists).

Catherine Deneuve plays the titular repulsed Carol, a severely messed-up woman living in London with her more sexually developed sister. She plays the role well, I suppose, but there are too many moments where I thought she was just wide-eyed, and lacked any depth that would make the character more interesting than the somewhat two-dimensional loon that she is. There's no real pathos in this movie, just Deneuve slipping more and more towards the edge of sanity. And, that may not be a bad thing, depending on what your expectations are. Those expecting the nuanced performances of later Polanski works such as Rosemary's Baby will probably be a bit disappointed, but after watching the movie in full, it's easy to see that this movie is intended to be a more visceral experience rather than a psychological one (despite its categorization as such).

But despite the fact that this wasn't as deep as I had hoped, the way Polanski manipulates the audience is still as awesome as his other films (that I've seen, anyway). The editing and sound design set the mood perfectly, and if you listen to this with the sound all the way up, you'll likely jump from the way the sound is presented.

So, in the end, if you're expecting a proto-Rosemary's Baby, you'll be disappointed. So don't. Taking this for what it is- a small-scale low-budget horror flick- will probably reward you with a better viewing experience, because it's quite tense at times, and even better, it's quite frightening and disturbing at times.

So, required viewing? I'd say not, but worthy viewing? Definitely.