IMDb RATING
5.8/10
1.8K
YOUR RATING
A wealthy author's second wife begins to suspect that her 12-year-old stepson may have murdered his mother, who mysteriously died in a bathtub accident.A wealthy author's second wife begins to suspect that her 12-year-old stepson may have murdered his mother, who mysteriously died in a bathtub accident.A wealthy author's second wife begins to suspect that her 12-year-old stepson may have murdered his mother, who mysteriously died in a bathtub accident.
Conchita Montes
- Sophie
- (as Conchita Montez)
Colette Jack
- Sarah
- (as Collette Jack)
Ricardo Palacios
- Party Guest
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe film received minor cuts for its initial UK cinema release. However in 1978 the introduction of the Protection of Children Act caused the BBFC to withdraw the film where it received extensive cuts to all scenes where Elise strips in front of Marcus, shots of Marcus caressing Elise's breasts, and the complete removal of the bed scene between Elise and Marcus.
- GoofsElyse says the peephole in the attic was covered with gauze, but when she looked through it , it was clear, no covering.
- Alternate versionsThere are some very minor differences between the VHS and Blu-ray versions of the film. For example, when Elise strips in front of Marcus, there are significant last-minute jump-cuts in the Blu-ray version, while the VHS print runs normally. Also in the dream sequence when Elise strips and attempts to have sex with Marcus is presented differently in the copies. In the VHS print, the whole scene is in one take, ending with a smiling Paul watching over them. The Blu-ray version divides the whole scene into two parts, placing other small shots from the film in between. Also, the VHS uses the original title of the film "Night Child" instead of "What the Peeper Saw" in the Blu-ray. Both version have the same runtime of 95 minutes, however.
Featured review
Its a well directed movie and needless to say it must have been a tight rope-walking to handle the taboo subject which must been akin to playing with fireball given the fact that movie debuted on screens way back in 1972. The movie seems more of psychological thriller as it involves quite a bit of mind-games.
Mark Lester as Marcus does a wonderful job. His character seems more like Damien from The Omen and gets to mouth intelligent lines. He looked on higher side for being portrayed aged twelve.
Britt Ekland gets the meaty bit of the role. Portrays the dilemma of the character quite well. Though the character of Elise starts off as a compassionate mother but as the movie progresses it evolves to be victim of Marcus and then leading to inquisitive wife attempting to unearth the truth.
Hardy Kruger seemed to have underplayed the of role of Paul as torn between the two ends. Otherwise his character had a variety of dimensions to it and certainly could have elevated the grey shades of it.
Narrative begins to build up as the movie progresses. Interesting parts are moves Marcus and Elise to play on the chess board attempting to out-beat each other. The part where Elise begins to get clues about the death is interestingly directed (the jigsaw picture), though might seem primitive my todays standards. The vivid imaginations of Elise comes across quite okay.
And yes, the end was well justified so don't miss the last 60-seconds of the movie.
Mark Lester as Marcus does a wonderful job. His character seems more like Damien from The Omen and gets to mouth intelligent lines. He looked on higher side for being portrayed aged twelve.
Britt Ekland gets the meaty bit of the role. Portrays the dilemma of the character quite well. Though the character of Elise starts off as a compassionate mother but as the movie progresses it evolves to be victim of Marcus and then leading to inquisitive wife attempting to unearth the truth.
Hardy Kruger seemed to have underplayed the of role of Paul as torn between the two ends. Otherwise his character had a variety of dimensions to it and certainly could have elevated the grey shades of it.
Narrative begins to build up as the movie progresses. Interesting parts are moves Marcus and Elise to play on the chess board attempting to out-beat each other. The part where Elise begins to get clues about the death is interestingly directed (the jigsaw picture), though might seem primitive my todays standards. The vivid imaginations of Elise comes across quite okay.
And yes, the end was well justified so don't miss the last 60-seconds of the movie.
- AvinashPatalay
- Jun 16, 2009
- Permalink
Details
- Runtime1 hour 29 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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