Don’t Look Now is one of the most revived British films of 1973 and an essential horror-thriller. Seeing that it is celebrating its 50th Anniversary and Pop Culture Maniacs has already celebrated The Exorcist and The Wicker Man’s 50th Anniversaries it seems fair to complete the unofficial horror trilogy.
John and Laura Baxter (Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie) are a married couple whose daughter died in an accident. When they move to Venice for John’s job, they meet a pair of British sisters with one of them having clairvoyant powers. They reassure Laura that their daughter is happy in the afterlife, but warns that John is in danger if he stays in Venice.
Don’t Look Now was an art-house style of the horror genre. It was directed by Nicolas Roeg, who had made films like Walkabout and The Man Who Fell to Earth and his most mainstream film was his adaptation of The Witches. Three of his films have been nominated for the Palme d’Or.
Don’t Look Now had an eerie and unsettling tone throughout, making it an atmospheric film. It stood out from the other horror films mentioned in the article since The Exorcist was shocking and The Wicker Man had a quirky, surreal quality. Don’t Look Now was a more strait-laced film aiming to be a gothic thriller. Considering the talent in front of and behind the camera Don’t Look Now was an early example of elevated horror.
At its core, Don’t Look Now was a personal drama about grief. After the death of their daughter the couple were struggling, but after Laura meets Heather (Hilary Mason) she has closure. John doesn’t believe in the supernatural and thinks his wife was told a lie. Even if it was a lie Laura was able to move when John became more focused on finding the girl in red and his rational attitude was tested. It was made worse when dangerous events occurred after Heather’s warning.
There was a window when John and Laura’s relationship was repaired. This led to the film’s most infamous scene: the sex scene. It was risqué for a British film of the time as the couple embarked on lovemaking.
One of the influences on the film was the works of Alfred Hitchcock. There was a bit of Vertigo in Don’t Look Now since both films opened with a tragedy that lingered throughout the film. In Vertigo the lead characters see someone die but seemingly come back from the dead, whilst in Don’t Look Now John saw a girl in a red coat like his daughter. Vertigo and Don’t Look Now were both films set in picturesque cities.
Venice made for a great setting for this type of story. It’s a city filled with gothic architecture and has an unnatural quality due to the city being built in defiance of nature. Because of this, the city had dark, narrow alleyways, and decaying buildings. Venice was made out to be a gloomy place, made worse due to the subplot that there was a serial killer stalking the streets. The use of red items was prominent throughout the film, like Laura’s boots or Christine’s red coat. Don’t Look Now had striking opening and closing scenes due to the contrast of bright red clothing and drab conditions and shocking events.
Kenneth Branagh’s A Haunting in Venice must have been influenced Don’t Look Now since the Agatha Christie adaptation was set in a dilapidated house during a wet period with a supernatural element because they featured séances as plot points.
Don’t Look Now is a classic horror-thriller that was an exploration of grief and relationships and serves as a great example of gothic atmospheric drama.
