Rapture

Film Review by Lewis Porteous | 28 Jul 2014
Film title: Rapture
Director: John Guillermin
Starring: Melvyn Douglas, Patricia Gozzi, Dean Stockwell, Gunnel Lindblom, Leslie Sands, Murray Evans, Sylvia Kay, Peter Sallis, Christopher Sandford, Ellen Pollock
Release date: 28 Jul
Certificate: 12

This curio from 1965 features strong performances from screen greats Melvyn Douglas (Ninotchka) and Dean Stockwell (Paris, Texas), but is carried by 15-year-old Patricia Gozzi, who’s every bit as compelling as she was in her more celebrated debut Sundays and Cybele. It's with a feral earthiness that she plays Agnes, the troubled child lost to isolation and fantasy, who becomes convinced that an escaped convict seeking refuge within her family home is the human manifestation of a scarecrow that once stood outside it.

Events take a decidedly dark turn as Agnes and the fugitive embark on a doomed sexual relationship. A delirious, creepy sensuality pervades John Guillerman's twisted fairytale. Unfortunately, the otherwise captivating Rapture is let down by some clunky exposition and a fatally rushed conclusion. [Lewis Porteous]

Released in on Dual Format (Blu-ray & DVD) by Eureka! Entertainment as part of Masters of Cinema http://eurekavideo.co.uk