The Appointment

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Min./Sony Video Software Operations & First Principle Films & W.L. Leasing Limited/British/Unrated</div> <bR> <div> Director.........Lindsey C. Vickers</div> <div> Screenplay.......Lindsey C. Vickers</div> <div> Music............Trevor Jones</div> <div> Producer.........Tom Sachs</div> <div> Executive Producer.....Ken Julian</div> <div> Special Effects Supervised by George Gibbs </div> <bR> <div> Dramatis Personae</div> <div> Ian.....Edward Woodward (Breaker Morant, The Equalizer, The Wickerman)</div> <div> Dianna..Jane Merrow (Hands of the Ripper)</div> <div> Joanne..Samantha Weysom </div> <div> Mark....John Judd (Scum)</div> <div> Sandy...Auriol Goldingham</div> <bR> <div> Critique: The police report voice over is a non-starter. This movie is plagued by stiff and hokey dialogue and oppressive music. The standby of the long deep base note horror movie sound is used with reckless abandon. The worst transgression is the penchant for extended scenes in which nothing happens. The dream sequence involving the car, however, does catch the attention. Still, there's a lot of waiting around, presumably in an attempt to build up tension without much clear evidence of what the conflict might be. There are a number of strategems used to show there are mysterious forces at work. At one point, Joanne stares at the knob as she lies in bed. Father pauses outside her door as though pondering coming in. He reaches for it as though he can't help it, as though she is willing him to do it. But then he finally stops and walks away. Does Joanie have some sort of magical powers? If so, one would think this could have come out in the film. And what's with the roses? Perhaps they cut out whatever the scene that would have made sense of it. And the watch problematic? And why on earth did the garage mechanic get ground up as Ian turned his key? Must be a metaphore for something. How had Joanne managed to effect these events? All in all though, the film keeps you guessing and the suspense level is sustained surprisingly well in the face of these foibles. The fact that you know what's going to happen doesn't make it more comfortable. Poor production values. </div> <div> </div> <div> * Blood * Not Violent * No Strong Language * No Nudity *</div> <div> * No Sexual Situations * Not Gory *</div> <bR> <div> Plot Summary: Childish voices call from the bush to twelve year old Sandy Freemont of Millard Heights, violin in hand as she walks the shortcut in her school uniform. A growling follows her from the dark woods. She is pulled by an edritch force and all we see left over is a crumpled violin. Three Years Later, the police believe it's an "unfathomably powerful psychopath who will strike again. The pathway is cordoned off. A boring display of drawings depicts Joanne's devotion to her father. There's trouble, though, when daddy can't make it to the recital where she's the star violinist. Joanne doesn't take the news well. Mother is afraid that Joanne is starting to live in a dangerous world of make believe. She's become alienated from any friends. She does indeed seem to be taking her father's unavoidable absence at the concert too much to heart. She thumbs listlessly through her photo album, and is still whiny as the family watches the teli. Daddy finally gives her a talking to and she sulks off to bed. Mother says it's emotional blackmail. She offers that Joanne is growing up fast and that she's sexually confused. Is mother a bit jealous as well? That night daddy dreams he's with Joanne as a Rotweiler barks at him. He wakes to find that there is indeed a dog barking, but nothing seems to be happening and he goes back to sleep. As Joanne sleeps, scary music indicates that dogs' movements outside are significant. Then the lights in the car turn on. As Ian drives the next morning, the music tells us there's something's wrong in the car and he keeps glancing back. Suddenly there are Rotweilers on the dash board and the car spins over a cliff. It's all a dream, but as the dream ends, the  lights in the real life automobile dim. This dream was a whopper and he goes to take a few sleeping pills. Unfortunately, there are Rotweilers lurking outside and one finds it's way into the house as daddy dozes on the easy chair. He stumbles up the stairs. As the interminable night continues other dogs might or might not be barking at the car, prowling about both inside and outside the house. Mother dreams of Ian, caught in his seatbelt, hardly able to move as the car is perched on a cliff. He releases the seatbelt on which the car hung, causing the car to plummet over the cliff. The next morning, Ian is off early, noting that his watch and the kitchen clock are not the same. Some time was lost. As he leaves, a pool of oil is left under the car with the cap. Has someone or something sabotaged the car? Events seem to be proceeding exactly as in the dream. Up in her room, though we suspect that she's in some way responsible for whatever is going on, Joanne appears to be oblivious to the whole thing. As Ian calls the house, mother is walking Joanne to the street and misses the call, this mishap keeping her from mentioning her dream. Over breakfast at a roadstop, a sound seems to bother him. He recalls the dream. The sound was just men working outside but it has unnerved him. We get a flashback of a mechanic working on the car who finds a rotten bolt but doesn't replace it. It appears the mechanic did a shoddy job with the brake fluid nut. The photograph of father and daughter that Joanne had cherished lies crumpled in a bush along with Ian's scrawled note saying "miss you, sorry, daddy'. Ian's turning on the ignition appears to have had an effect on a car the garage man was working with and he is ground up in the transmission. Ian calls up his wife and tells her that he'd dreamed that he'd crashed the car. She tells him that he'd had the same dream. However, he can't get any more change in and the connection is broken. Worse, a large truck transporting Rotweilers drives by as he calls. Ian heads into the deserted, mountainous, North Wales area of the dream.</div> </td> </tr></table></body>