You won't be disappointed!

Waste of time

Good concept, poorly executed.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Very uneven with mediocre performances by Reeves, miscasting of Dyan Cannon,and even Caine, although good, couldn't carry this feeble performance.(Spoilers) Inexplicably, they change the two genuinely scary parts of the movie: the reappearance of "Clifford" both from the first "attempt" and the second attempt at murder. In the first, he's supposed to break through the french doors, and the second, he appears out of the dark when, illuminated by a bolt of lightning, he is suddenly seen above Sidney's head swinging a pike or axe for one final attempt to kill Sidney with his dying breath. Both of these sudden appearances are genuinely startling--in the play, but not in the movie. The very end, too, is inextricably squandered.Don't waste your time or money. Unfortunately, no other version exists. Wait until a performance comes to your town. We just saw one by a volunteer amateur company in a small gin-rickety playhouse, which was far better than this.

There are two big problems with the movie. The easier problem to remedy is the pacing. There's just too much time spent on material that adds nothing to the plot or the ambiance. 90 minutes might have been a good length, but 120 minutes is way too long. The larger problem is that the final twist is so stupid it destroys the rest of the experience. A satisfactory twist in a movie consists of three parts: the twist is unexpected the twist makes sense/plausibility within the movie universe (ie no magic deus ex machina, no lucky coincidences) the twist is organic to the storyline. Once it happens, we review the previous material in our minds and see that, yes, it makes even more sense within the light of the twist. Something that doesn't follow these rules is not a twist, it's a gimmick, the sort of BS that leaves you swearing that you'll never again waste your time watching a movie by that particular director and screenwriter.This movie delivers a completely satisfactory twist in the first act, leaving one to expect that the second act will be resolved just as satisfactorily. But no such luck --- the second act ends with a gimmick. Unexpected yes, but barely plausible, and utterly inorganic to the story. The play (from what I read on Wikipedia) seems to have done a substantially better job of making the ending feel natural. So we have the not too unusual story of movie makers (the director? the producers? the financiers?) too stupid to understand what was actually valuable in the property they chose to adapt and insisting on "improving" it. Oh well, what can you do? The stupid will always be with us.

Michael Caine is a formerly successful playwright of the macabre who has had four flops on Broadway in a row, and his latest is an absolute disaster. He sees a way for a smash hit, and it is as sinister as any of the plots of his plays. It involves murder, of course, and his ailing wife (Dyan Cannon) can't believe her eyes when right before them he seemingly murders a young playwright (Christopher Reeve). This of course leads to some surprising revelations and thanks to the presence of a nosy neighbor (the very funny Irene Worth), the twists keep coming at you like raindrops during a hurricane.There is no way to review this without giving away much, and the film should reveal its twists naturally with little being known. I will say then, that this is a clever and handsome adaption of the hit Broadway play, surprising many with a sudden kiss between two of the performers that comes out of nowhere, featuring Cannon's howling scream every time someone comes into a room. She is delightfully funny, a lot less sinister than her conniving wife in "Heaven Can Wait", yet equally as frenetic. The shot of Caine's play being performed at Broadway's Music Box Theatre reveals a play obviously so bad it is surprising that it made it there at all. Real critics come on to spoof their own television images and that gives this a realistic approach to Broadway opening night with Caine proceeding to get rip-roaring drunk, dropping a bottle as he catches a train at Grand Central Station.$52 later from his Long Island stop to his windmill home (a gorgeous set worthy of mention) and Caine is harping at his nervous wife and plotting a scheme so nefarious that you will never know what is going to come next. Reeve's character, the young playwright who becomes a "victim" of Caine's scheme, has issues of his own, and those who have any connection with the theater, whether it be professionally or like me a regular audience, will recognize the type he is playing. Caine cleverly identifies him as a sociopath, and this is where the play twists towards one up-manship, and a revelation involving the delightful North that will have you howling.A clever supporting performance by the delightful Henry Jones as Cannon's attorney is small but importantly revealing to many things going on. His high-hat pitched voice, slightly snobby nose sniffing things out around him, yet obvious compassion, makes Jones one of the more interesting character actors of his time. Actors like him can take a very small role and make their presence unforgettable.With speedy pacing by Sidney Lumet, Ira Levin's play (adapted by him for the screen) is a delightful black comedy of deception, betrayal and a surprise involving someone being exactly in the right place at the right time. Everybody is on their toes in this, sort of the murderous "Noises Off!", another comical play about the theater which would later be a movie starring none other than Michael Caine.

The first time I watched this movie was in my high school drama class, and I must say I enjoyed it very much. Michael Caine and Christopher Reeve do great performances in their roles. The film does a great job of capturing that "play" sorta feel, because of the way most of the movie takes place in one location, plus the long monologues and direction make it seem like a play.It also has a subtle sense of dark humor in it, which I really liked. And I have to admit, it did make me jump a few times. Without spoiling too much of the plot, I will say it's one twist after another. A good film that's both funny and scary.