Wow! Such a good movie.

Better Late Then Never

A different way of telling a story

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

the plot is paper thin but what it lacks in story it makes up for in good acting, excellent cinema photography like visual poetry, and a creepy moody atmosphere. I watched it in black and white and it looked beautiful.. I may watch again in color just to compare. This is the kind of movie that needs to be remade.. fix some of the clunky dialog and establish a more cohesive story arc.. but then again the feeling of being lost as to what exactly was happening on screen is part of this movie's charm.

This film relies very much upon its tiny cast, so the importance of its casting cannot be underestimated. Spanish Director José Ramón Larraz, the often volatile personality who went on to direct cult classic 'Vampyres' the same year, selected an ensemble that could hardly have been bettered.Considered a lost film since its last showing on television in 1983, this carefully paced, deeply atmospheric tale is only beginning to find a new level of appreciation since its rediscovery. Peter Vaughn, often cast as 'heavies' at the time is quietly menacing as Brady, the 'odd job man. Lorna Leilbron, who was so good in 'The Creeping Flesh' plays Anne, eminently sensible and unflappable. And, providing her usual extraordinary performance, Angel Pleasance plays Helen, who lives in her huge inherited estate in the middle of secluded English countryside, convalescing from some undisclosed breakdown and yet still clearly suffering. Whilst not quite as other-worldly as she was in 'From Beyond the Grave' earlier in the year, her more subtle playing of quiet madness reveals itself as the story plays on.The direction is sedate and restrained by Larraz's standards, yet drenched in doomy, sinister atmosphere. Even a scene as seemingly innocent as Helen sitting alone in the spacious living room, darkened by the heavy clouds outside, the windows buffeted by the storm, is oppressive and unnerving.The story-line is thin and it comes as a huge non-surprise to find the deranged killer on Anne and other sundry characters is Helen. And yet the fact that Brady is too obviously a red herring (although hardly unimpeachable) doesn't disappoint because Pleasance plays it so fascinatingly well.

Being a devoted horror buff, I've seen a great many strange and wonderful horror movies in my time, but I tell you none of them even begins to compare to SYMPTOMS! This rarely seen gem centers on Helen(Angela Pleasance), a rather odd young woman who invites her friend, Ann(Lorna Heilbron) to come stay with her at her decaying old house in the English countryside. Terror unfolds as Helen's sinister handyman(Peter Vaughan) discovers the corpse of her previous house guest, sending the disturbed woman into a violent and uncontrollable rage that culminates in the deaths of several innocent people. Though the plot is relatively simple, Spanish horror director Jose Larraz handles the material in a complex manner and like his British counterpart, Alfred Hitchcock, is able to find terror and menace in the most simple and mundane activity. Larraz also milks the strikingly eerie English landscape for all it is worth. The strongest aspect of SYMPTOMS however is the marvellous performaces by Angela Pleasance and Lorna Heilbron. Pleasance, the daughter of famed British character actor Donald Pleasance, is a supremely gifted actress who seldom ever got a role as good or as intriguing as this. Heilbron, a striking British beauty with genuine talent to match her sultry good looks, is a sadly underused actress who is intense and believable every moment as Pleasance's unsuspecting friend. Unfortunately, this is a frustratingly difficult film to find. It's never been released to video in the US, and the only reason I have seen it is because I had the good fortune of catching it on late night television some years back. They really need to release this one to video and DVD. I'm sure it will get the wide audience it deserves if it is given a reasonable amount of build-up and exposure!

"Symptoms" or "The Blood virgin" is the favourite movie shot by Joseph Larraz, the catalanian director of such horror movies -Whirpool, Deviation, Scream and die or masterpieces as this "Symptoms" or "Vampyres"- that nobody did with their particular sight and their personal style. "Symptoms" is a very traditional horror tale with vampiric reminiscences and a very special study of a crazy lesbian woman obsessed with their dead mistress. The phantom of Cora, their lover is in the middle of this sensitive story and the reason of their crimes around the movie. The atmosphere and climatic shots are superb and the music score by John Scott are wonderfully executed with gothic images and dark places. "Symptoms" appeared in 1976 in british theaters and received cool opinions, specially in "Monthly Film Bulletin" and other prestigious movie magazines in United Kingdom. Twenty five years after "Symptoms" is a disturbing masterpiece of the horror movies and one of the most romantic studies of crazy love that other prestigious directors in the seventies, for example Truffaut, De Palma, Rivette, Richardson or Losey, did in this past prodigious '70 decade. Joseph Larraz, 70 years old now has a clear head yet and a great sense of humor. He is one of this rare spanish directors that made movies in United Kingdom or Demmark. He has their particular obsessions about sex, horror and movies and he showed us their talent in fashion magazines, in spanish comics or erotic pictures of beautiful women as Marianne Morris, Anulka, Lorna Heilborn, Teresa Gimpera, Helga Line, etc. "Symptoms" is a rarely piece for collectors and fans of darkness dreams and inmoral tales. The film has their soul and force in the face of Angela Pleasence as Helen Ramsey, the predator woman that kills everyone around her and use the people to take to their mortal manor where occurs all the drama. The movie is great in the beginning and in the end and offers to the audiences a clever entertainment that intelligent people will love with passion.