(Review originally written at 17 February 2006)
No, this movie certainly wasn't a very good one. It's has an odd and confusing story that at times doesn't really makes much of sense. There also are many characters that don't really seem to serve a purpose in the movie and are only distracting from the main plot-line.
Nevertheless, from a technical point of the view the movie is a quite good one. The black & white cinematography from Erwin Hillier is quite sensational at times. The movie is also beautifully artist directed by J. Lee Thompson, who was no small fish in the business, unfortunately he made just as many bad as good movies in his long career. None of the style and atmosphere can conceal the confusing and weird story that doesn't always make an awful lot of sense.
The cast of the movie deserved better. David Niven is a great actor, although the real main part of the movie is being played by Deborah Kerr, who replaced Kim Novak. Donald Pleasence also walks around in this movie but without having much interesting to do. Brightest spot of the movie is Sharon Tate. She is surprisingly good and creepy in her role. She truly plays the best part of the movie.
Overall the movie is a very unsatisfying one. The story and characters are disappointing. The ending however is a good and memorable one but a good ending alone is not enough to save an entire movie.
4/10
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