Seance on a Wet Afternoon (B&W)

Starring:Kim Stanley, Margaret Lacey, Marie Burke, Maria Kazan, Lionel Gamlin, Marian Spencer, Richard Attenborough, Godfrey James, Judith Donner, Ronald Hines, Hajni Biro, Mark Eden, Nanette Newman, Diana Lambert, Frank Singuineau, Gerald Sim, Stanley Morgan, Maggie Rennie, Michael Lees, Patrick Magee
Director: Bryan Forbes
Studio: Homevision
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Aside from boasting one of the great evocative titles in film history, Séance on a Wet Afternoon (1964) works up a surplus of dread with a minimum of devices. Kim Stanley was nominated for an Oscar ^® for her performance as a London medium who bulldozes her weak husband (Richard Attenborough) into kidnapping a little girl; the goal is not ransom money, but a chance to prove Stanley's clairvoyant gifts to the police, and thus bring her the respect she has always deserved. The suspense is keen, yet the movie's real achievement is detailing the stifling marriage between two deluded, dependent middle-aged people. Attenborough is heartbreaking as a human doormat, and Stanley's Method intensity brings the movie into a genuinely unnerving realm (she didn't work in movies again for nearly two decades). The story was remade, with intriguing changes, by Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa as Séance (a.k.a. Korei, 2000). --Robert Horton

Description

Fraught with the kind of tension that makes breathing difficult, this frighteningly eerie story of a middle-aged couple unable to cope with the loss of their own child has won numerous awards and is now available for the first time on DVD. Myra (Kim Stanley, The Right Stuff) is a mentally unstable medium that believes if she kidnaps a child of wealthy parents, she can prove her psychic abilities by 'finding' the child. Award-winning performances from Stanley as the disturbed Myra and Richard Attenborough (Jurassic Park) as Billy the meek, apologetic husband combine with tension packed location shooting to make this mid-sixties thriller an enduring portrait of madness.

Customer Reviews:

Compelling........2006-07-19

Séance on a Wet Afternoon (Bryan Forbes, 1964)

Bryan Forbes' name may be on the marquee, but in retrospect, it is the style of producer and star Richard Attenborough that is writ large over this film. Presaging Attenborough's magnum opus, Magic, Séance on a Wet Afternoon travels down a lot of the same roads-- perhaps with not as much satisfaction, but as effectively in places.

Attenborough plays Philip Savage, the henpecked but well-meaning husband of Myra (Kim Stanley), who desperately wants to believe she's a medium. She is having difficulty overcoming the death of their son Arthur, whom Myra is convinced is speaking to her from beyond the grave. In order to prove herself-- make a name for herself, as it were, in the world of the mundane-- Myra hatches a nefarious plot into which she draws her husband-- kidnapping a child, then approaching the family as someone with helpful information about their missing daughter.

Watching this film over forty years after its initial release, it's easy to see how much influence it's had over the years; its particular plot twists have found their way into films ranging from Attenborough's own later works to wonderful (and, I'm sure, not-so-wonderful) films from around the world. (Certain scenes should especially put you in mind of Hideo Nakata's finest film, Chaos, for example.) While Séance on a Wet Afternoon never reaches the cinematic heights to be found when Attenborough got behind the camera himself-- the film even devolves to melodrama now and then-- it's still quite a satisfying little journey into the world of psychological suspense. The DVD suffers from a relatively nasty version of the same sound-mastering problem that plagues most DVDs (the soundtrack is mixed much louder than the dialogue track), but that shouldn't stop you from giving it a spin; you'll just find yourself using your remote's volume control a good deal more than usual. *** ½

Oh, You Gotta Rent This !.......2006-05-12

I came across with this movie all by chance and it certainly became one of my all-time favorites. Beyond everything else this movie is SOOOO well-done. It truly satisfies in every aspect. The economy that the director used in telling this story i think is just perfect.

It's sad, it's haunting, it's gripping, thick with magnificent ambient dread and it features 2 mind-blowing performances by the leads. It's really hard to decide which actor is better but i'd say you HAVE TO SEE Kim Stanley's superb work to believe it! I was blown away!

If you like off-beat, eerie movies with solid stories and tour de force acting you surely will love this one! Do not hesitate to rent it!

"Tell me you love me...".......2005-11-16

This is an exquisite little movie, made unforgettable by its two talented stars. Kim Stanley plays Myra, a woman who became delusional years ago when her only child was still born. She now claims that she's a psychic medium and that Arthur, her son, speaks to her from beyond. She's married to Billy (Richard Attenborough), a weak and brokenhearted man who knows his wife is mentally ill, but is unable to help her. They decide to kidnap the daughter of a wealthy couple, collect the ransom, and then Myra will offer her psychic services to the couple and heroically "find" the little girl. Billy knows it's a bad plan, and he's even more worried when Arthur "tells" Myra that he wants the little girl to join him.

Set in a big, dark house in London, the movie is certainly creepy and suspenseful, but more than anything, it is achingly sad. We feel for the suffering parents of the girl, for Myra, who doesn't know she is insane, and especially for Billy, who has lost control of his life completely. Richard Attenborourgh's performance is a master class in the art of acting. A sobering, insightful study of two unhappy people.

Kona

Oh what a tangled web we weave.......2005-11-14

Myra (Kim Stanley) knows she is distend for greatness and the second rate psychic she seems to be. She enlists (heavily influences) her week-willed husband Billy (Richard Attenborough) into a scheme that seems perfectly innocent; they will barrow a child Amanda (Judith Donner) and then Myra will use her psychic ability to find the child for the parents. Myra gets fame, her husband will get a new car and everyone will be happy.

Every thing will go as planned if you do not take in account that there is something strange going on. And it is snowballing.

The film was shot in black and white which gives it a spooking and depressing feel. There is sixties English background music including "Hear my Prayer" Written by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy. Then again there are plenty of places where they do not play any background and the natural sounds or lack of can also be spooky.

Kim Stanley was nominated for two Oscars - one for portraying the medium with a secret.

A wicked little gem of a thriller.......2005-09-04

This movie is more a psychological/psycho study than anything. However it adds up to one seriously taut thriller in the end.
Everything about this movie is believable, even the acting.
The plot is simple. Blackmail. But the ends that the blackmail is for is a little twisted than most other films.
It's the details that set this movie aside from others of it's sort.
Scary thoughout, this is a good little suprise to watch on a dark and stormy night.

Average customer rating:

Compelling.
Oh, You Gotta Rent This !
"Tell me you love me..."
Oh what a tangled web we weave
A wicked little gem of a thriller

Seance on a Wet Afternoon [Region 2]
Starring: Kim Stanley , Margaret Lacey , Marie Burke , Maria Kazan , and Lionel Gamlin
Director: Bryan Forbes
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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