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00:12Hey guys, it's me Beau. I'm back here on the Film Scene Investigation channel. Thank you for
00:19checking out this video. In today's review, I'm going to be taking a closer look at the 1971
00:28Psychological Horror, See No Evil. I went into this film not really knowing anything about it,
00:38but I was pleasantly surprised. So yeah, just before we get into it, if you haven't already,
00:44please do consider subscribing to the channel. All the support is greatly appreciated.
00:50So, See No Evil, aka Blind Terror from 1971, was a film directed by Richard Fleischer and was written
01:00by the screenwriter Brian Clemens. Filmed on location in Berkshire, England, the movie was released and
01:09kind of failed to make a real impact in terms of box office sales. And subsequently, it kind of went
01:18into obscurity for many years. When it comes to the story, it focused on the character Sarah Rexton,
01:26who was played by actress Mia Farrow. She was a young woman who had just come out of hospital
01:32following a horse riding accident that had left her completely blind. You know, losing your sight
01:38and not being able to see, that is, of course, debilitating for anyone. But Sarah was determined
01:49to not let this disability hinder her life and her future. So after leaving the hospital, Sarah decided
01:59to stay with her aunt and uncle at their lavish stately home, where she could, you know, acclimatize
02:07herself to her new surroundings. While she put on this brave face, you know, she didn't want any fuss
02:15and she just wanted to be treated like everyone else. Deep down, she was suffering and, you know,
02:22she just didn't want to show it. You know, just thinking about it now, like we take so much for
02:30granted, especially our eyesight. You know, we just wake up and just assume that we're going to see,
02:38right? So, especially for a young woman, it just must be so kind of horrifying, really, to kind of
02:46suddenly not being able to live your life the way, you know, you used to be able to. One day,
02:54after getting reacquainted with her estranged boyfriend, Sarah returned to her uncle's home
03:02and, well, it was completely empty. Sarah just assumed that everybody was out. She ended up falling
03:10asleep later that evening and had absolutely no idea that her family members, her aunt, her uncle
03:17and her cousin had been murdered. Given Sarah was blind, well, she couldn't see the dead bodies
03:27laying around her. So, she just, you know, carried on as normal, not having any clue. And I must say,
03:36I did think it was pretty clever how the filmmakers incorporated Sarah's disability into the storyline.
03:45By doing this, it gave us some unique setups. For example, when Sarah decided to run a bath
03:54and had no idea that her uncle's dead body was lying inside it. I mean, almost like some dark humor
04:04kind of thing. Eventually, Sarah did discover the dead bodies. And when she did, she began to freak out,
04:13even though she couldn't actually see anything. By accidentally touching her cousin's cold dead body,
04:20it confirmed her fears. Sarah was in total shock and immediately tried to leave the house and call for
04:31help. But in doing so, in that panic, she ended up taking the wrong exit and fell down the cellar.
04:38I did feel really bad for the character because, I mean, just, you have to imagine, you know,
04:45putting yourself in that situation, being blind, being, you know, in a panic, not being able to
04:51know where you're going and just wanting to escape. And then falling down, you know, a cellar hurting
04:58yourself. I mean, it must be so disorientating, you know, to be in that situation. Sarah managed to
05:08make it out of the cellar where she ran into the groundskeeper who was played by actor Brian
05:14Rawlinson. He was alive, but seriously wounded and didn't have long left. He went on to tell Sarah
05:23about what happened and how we saw a man with a shotgun running onto the estate and shooting at
05:31random. Now, one of the aspects of the film that I really liked was how the filmmakers were able to
05:39hide the identity of the killer right up until the very end of the film. Throughout the movie,
05:47we saw several shots of the cowboy boots the killer was wearing as he walked around and stalked Sarah
05:55and her family. Leaving the identity of the killer unknown and, you know, dropping clues here and there,
06:04it certainly kept my interest. I didn't really know who was responsible, who the killer actually was.
06:12And at one point, I even thought it may have been Sarah's estranged boyfriend, Steve,
06:19who was played by actor Norman Eastley. Just from some of the looks that Steve gave Sarah,
06:28I kind of, I kind of thought, you know, he could be involved, you know, but it ended up not
06:36being him
06:36anyway. You know, keeping the identity hidden, it was handled with care. And because of that,
06:44as I said, I couldn't pinpoint who was responsible. And I must say, it was some very clever misdirection
06:52from the filmmakers. When it comes to the themes, See No Evil explored the British class system
07:01with Sarah and her family, with Sarah and her family, her uncle and aunt, representing high society,
07:08the big house, the nice clothes, the posh cars. You know, it was all there on screen. Whereas
07:17someone like the groundskeeper, Barker, I think his name was, he represented the working clubs.
07:27It was very much two contrasting lifestyles, you know, being presented on screen. Even Sarah's
07:38accident, that itself was a reminder of her wealth and privilege, considering that she
07:47had an accident while horse riding. You know, now, such activities like that are usually left for
07:56you know, the rich and powerful, not your everyday ordinary folk. We also saw the class tensions rise
08:05with Sarah's boyfriend, Steve, immediately assuming that the killer was one of the travelers on the local
08:15campsite. Now, it turned out it wasn't. But what we have here is guilt by association. Steve
08:26Steve, you know, he had no right to confront these guys without any actual evidence. You know, he
08:34literally pointed a gun to them. But as I said, you know, it was like Steve's internal hatred or prejudice,
08:44I guess, I guess, that blinded him into making some rash decisions. Now, even though this is a horror
08:56film, and there were dead bodies and murderous killers going around, the scene that really got to me
09:06was the moment when Sarah nearly stepped on the broken glass. She had returned home and was completely
09:16unaware about what happened to her relatives. She went into the kitchen to make some tea and, you know,
09:26couldn't see the broken glass all over the place. We then got these close-ups of Sarah almost stepping
09:34onto the glass. I mean, it was, you know, like this close. And I will say when I saw that,
09:40yeah, that
09:40kind of made me squint a little bit. Yeah. Unfortunately, in the past, I have accidentally
09:47stepped on broken glass. And yeah, it sucks. Seeing things like that, you know, simple dangers that could
09:56happen to anyone, you know, any time of the day. Yeah, that's a lot more relatable than a killer
10:04chasing you in the woods or, you know, a killer trying to, you know, strangle you in the bath, you
10:10know. As for the technical side of things, the cinematographer Jerry Fisher did a marvelous job
10:17in capturing that isolated feeling of the English rural countryside. There was one really great
10:26shot of Sarah in the field, you know, calling for help and, you know, there was just nobody around.
10:35And in that moment, you really kind of felt that isolated feeling, you know, she was by herself
10:42and no one was coming to help her. As for the locations, I really liked the stately home that was
10:51used as Sarah's uncle's home. This was a grand building, a lavish building, and, you know, a place
11:00I wouldn't mind living in. There was dozens of rooms, high ceilings, expensive decor. And when you put,
11:09you know, that into context with the story, it was quite interesting to insert a character like Sarah,
11:16someone that's blind, into a house like that. Because ultimately, it's almost like the house itself
11:23was an obstacle for the protagonist to overcome. When it comes to the performances, I thought Mia Farrow
11:34did a brilliant job playing the character Sarah Rexton. Now, the actress Mia Farrow, she had this very
11:44innocent and, I guess, endearing look. And that certainly made it easier for the audience to
11:53root for her. She was, she was very impressive. And it was clear that she put a lot of effort
11:59into the role. I actually did some research and found out that in pre-production, Mia Farrow actually
12:07visited a blind school where she heard testimonies from actual blind people, she learnt how such limitations
12:18can really affect someone's life. And she used that in shaping the characteristics of Sarah, from her posture
12:28to her facial expressions. Mia Farrow's character, yeah, it felt like a real person who was just,
12:37you know, defiant and not going to let this disability ruin their life. When I was watching the movie,
12:44I was impressed with Farrow's English accent, given that she was an American and was raised in California.
12:53I looked into her background and saw that at the age of 13, Mia Farrow was sent to an English
13:02boarding school. So, you know, then everything made sense. Clearly this actress had retained
13:10the authentic English dialect and, well, yeah, you know, infused that into her character, Sarah Rexton.
13:18There's no denying that Farrow really put a lot of effort into this film and it showed, it really did.
13:26I mean, she really was perfectly cast and I am surprised that, you know, there was no award
13:34nomination or anything like that because for me, you know, it was deserving. You know, I didn't really
13:42know much about the actress prior to watching this film. I mean, I'd heard of her and I'd seen some
13:49photos of her, but yeah, after now seeing this movie and being thoroughly impressed,
13:57I definitely will be looking deeper into her filmography. It's just crazy also to think that
14:05by the time Mia Farrow had filmed See No Evil, she had already been married and divorced to the late
14:16Frank Sinatra. So, yeah, clearly this woman lived quite a life. As for the rest of the cast,
14:24I thought everyone was pretty okay, you know, adequate. There wasn't really any other performances
14:32that reached out to me. Ultimately, this was Mia Farrow's movie. She was the glue that held it all
14:41together. And so, dislikes for See No Evil from 1971. My biggest dislike for the film would have to be
14:53the score that was composed by the musician Elmer Bernstein. Now, while Bernstein's work was indeed
15:03highly produced, I just found the score to be very bombastic and even whimsical at times. Given the story
15:15was pretty dark, I mean, we involved, you know, dead bodies and murder and stuff like that,
15:21I was expecting something kind of, I don't know, sinister and brooding. But to the contrary,
15:30we got some very quite grand music and to me overall, I just didn't think it suited the vibe.
15:42Now, I want to stress that the actual production of the score itself, it was top quality. There's no
15:50denying that Bernstein is a very talented composer. Ultimately though, I just think he was the wrong
15:59choice. The score should have sounded innovative. You know, it should have felt intriguing, not
16:12kind of generic. And yeah, there was no kind of any single kind of track that stuck out to me
16:21that
16:22sounded great or memorable. Now, it's interesting to note that Bernstein wasn't actually the first
16:30choice to compose a score for See No Evil. In fact, Bernstein was a replacement for the composer
16:38Andre Previn, who was at the time Mia Farrow's husband. Previn's score that he presented
16:46ended up being rejected, ended up being rejected by the studio and producers, which left them scrambling
16:53to find someone else. So ultimately, you know, in a roundabout way, it kind of makes sense why
17:01the score isn't really up to par with the visual storytelling that we see being portrayed on screen.
17:11And I don't know how long Bernstein was given to come up with this score. But yeah, ultimately,
17:18it wasn't long enough. That said, for what it's worth. Yeah, I mean, he did the best job he could.
17:26And so, ratings for See No Evil from 1971. I'm gonna be rating this movie a 6.5 out of
17:4110. I really
17:42enjoyed See No Evil for what it was, a suspenseful thriller that kept the audiences guessing on who the
17:53actual killer was. The violence was fragmented and the murders happened off screen, which left a sense
18:03of dread throughout the whole film. One of the best aspects of the film was how it humanised a person's
18:12disability without, you know, pity or cliché. Sarah used her quick thinking to escape and ultimately,
18:22she survived rather than relying on mythical superpowers or anything like that. So yeah,
18:31in that respect, it's quite grounded and there's a strong sense of realism. The only downside,
18:38of course, is that for actual blind people, you know, they can't watch this film. If you've seen
18:46seen No Evil from 1971, then please let me know your thoughts and memories in the comment section below.
18:54For those out there who haven't seen it, this is a strong recommendation from me, especially if you're
19:02into psychological horror films. For people wanting blood and gore, yeah, it's not really that type of
19:12film. It relies a lot more on tension and suspense. And well, that's all from me today, guys. I do
19:21hope
19:21you've enjoyed this review of See No Evil, aka Blind Terror from 1971. I'll be back next week, of course,
19:30with yet another cult movie review. If you haven't already, please like and subscribe.
19:36I do really appreciate all the support. And well, I'll see you soon.
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