After the critical success of his film Knife in the Water (1962), talented Polish director Roman Polanski emigrated to the West. His first English-language film was Repulsion. It was a horror film that was far more intense than his most famous entry of that genre, Rosemary's Baby (1968).
What makes Repulsion so unsettling is that the psychopathic killer isn't a stalker who is after the innocent, beautiful young blonde woman. It is the lovely woman herself who is the killer. But as was the case with Norman Bates from Psycho (1960), she is so far gone that she doesn't realize what she is doing.
Repulsion stars Catherine Deneuve as Carol Ledoux, a Belgian emigre living in London. She is demure and quiet to a fault, and appears to be in a trance until spoken to. She works at a salon that caters to rich old ladies, who fill her head with prattle about how selfish and lustful men are.
Carol lives with her older sister Helen (Yvonne Furneaux), a free spirited woman who is having an affair with Michael (Ian Hendry). Meanwhile, Carol is pursued by lovesick Colin (John Fraser). As is everyone else in the film, Colin is baffled by Carol's withdrawn nature, but is nonetheless obsessed by her beauty.
Michael and Helen take an extended vacation in Europe, leaving Carol alone in her apartment. Carol soon loses what is left of her sanity. She has nightmarish delusions that unsavory men are sexually assaulting her. Woe be it to any man who crosses her path.
Deneuve is in nearly all of the film's scenes, but she has only a few lines. All conversations involving her are one-sided, as others try but fail to draw her out from her inner world.
Repulsion may not be as much a horror film as a psychological drama, but it is not for the squeamish. The film does move slowly, however. Many scenes have Carol simply staring like a zombie into space. Her crimes are terrible, but in both cases they can be argued to be acts of self-defense.
Repulsion may have the dubious honor of being the first mainstream film to feature a woman having an orgasm. Part of what drives Carol over the edge is overhearing her sister making love to her boyfriend.
Director Polanski has a cameo as a spoons player. (74/100)
A Belgian manicurist hallucinates in London and kills anyone who comes near her. Director Roman Polanski's first English-language film.More at HotMovieSale.com
REPULSION starring the incomparable Catherine Deneuve was director Roman Polanski's first movie filmed in English. It chronicles the descent into schi...More at Family Video
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