The Worst Film Ever

A very feeble attempt at affirmatie action

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Sondra Locke stars in this obscure gem as Marguerite, an odd, but very intellectual teenage girl who is kept isolated by her vindictive mother and grandmother. When her father comes to visit with his new fiancée, a perverted love triangle develops with Marguerite as the other woman.Directed by famed cinematographer William A. Fraker, this is a solid psychological horror film with an ending that took me by surprise and adds a whole new layer to everything seen prior. The relationship between Marguerite and her dad, played by Robert Shaw, is quite uncomfortable, especially when he does nothing to discourage her attempts to court him right in front of his fiancée. Marguerite, clearly unhinged from being raised by her man-hating mother, also has hateful conversations with one of her dolls, believing it to be a real person. This, along with Marguerite's fears of being left in her hell, of her father abandoning her again, eventually leads to a murder mystery.There's strong acting across the board, especially from Locke, who I just saw recently in a similarly off-kilter role in "The Shadow of Chikara". She definitely had a knack for playing creepy. As for the aforementioned ending, it's definitely a stunner. I can think of at least two later slashers that may have been inspired by it.The film was apparently edited by the studio for no apparent reason, and this shows in the latter half, as scenes seem to end before they've really even begun. It can be a little confusing, and one hopes that the cut bits will be restored some day.

"A Reflection of Fear" is a moody and stylish murder mystery about a strange and disturbed teenage girl named Marguerite(Sondra Locke)whose father Michael suddenly arrives.Michael wants to divorce her mother so he can marry his mistress.Locke has a special kind of friend,a creepy doll named Aaron.A series of brutal murders is set in motion.The first victims of a mysterious hooded stranger are Marguerite 's mother and grandma...Dreamy and bizarre horror movie with sluggish pace and solid acting.The performance of Sondra Locke is brilliant;she plays a haunted,beautiful,a ravishing 'innocent.'If you liked "Psycho","La Residencia","Sleepaway Camp" or "Repulsion" give this one a look.8 out of 10.

Atmospheric but very slow mystery drama in which the obvious killer is Locke. What comes as a major (and unusual) twist is that she is a "he". No wonder they cast the skinny, pale, flat-chested, immensely unattractive Locke, I thought. The director "cheats" by using various tricks to detract from the real killer; in one scene we see a figure throwing the old woman's corpse into a pond, then leaving - the figure is that of a big man, like Shaw, not at all the figure of anybody remotely built like Locke. De Palma "cheats" like this in "Dressed to Kill" also. Locke is awfully ugly and it takes a while to get used to watching her. Kellerman, on the other hand, is still in her very pretty phase. David Bowie, had he been born female, would have looked like Sondra Locke.

For a really minor film from the 70's, for some reason this one sticks with me - even this long after I saw it at a horror festival in the late 80's. Why? Maybe it's the idea that we all have secret urges and thoughts that could manifest themselves in the world, if we give them a vehicle.Sondra Locke does a great job of being a too-mousy-for-reality girl who has a BIG secret, of which I'm not sure even SHE'S aware.Cool ending, as well, with enough still remaining from the cuts for the viewer to get the idea.Catch this one, if you can. You won't be sorry.