Someone Behind the Door (1971)

Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Not special. not surprising. using Anthony Perkins for a role who seems be the most comfortable for him. remembering Hitchcock. and proposing the slow pace as basic tool for atmosphere. but it has a virtue who did it more than one of many thrillers from the "70. this virtue - Charles Bronson who propose a different hero, exotic for his career, vulnerable, passionate, fragile and innocent, part of dark plot , remembering a sort of Prince Myshkin. Bronson performance is the lead motif to see this film. and maybe, the last scene . short, a thriller who gives not exactly a credible story but one well made , respecting the rules of the genre.proposing a form of duel.

Enjoyed this film starring Charles Bronson,(The Stranger),"The Indian Runner",'91 who plays a man who has lost his memory and is treated at a hospital and taken home by Anothony Perkins,(Laurence Jeffries),"Edge of Sanity",'89. Laurence is a psychiatrist and decides to use this Stranger as an experiment and at the same time play games with his brain that seems to be empty of all personnel remembrance. Jill Ireland,(Francis Jeffries),"The Mechanic",'72 is a very attractive wife to Laurence Jeffries, but is neglected in the bedroom love making and has drifted a part from her husband. This is a rather interesting drama and suspense film, but rather slow paced.

Back in the good old days, before the success of "Death Wish" forced him into playing the same role of the angry vigilante over and over again, Charles Bronson was a fine, versatile actor; in this 1971 film, he actually plays the victim of a larger scheme (though he does some victimizing of his own, too), and he's the best - if not the only - reason to see this otherwise static, plodding thriller. Anthony Perkins disappoints as the slightly deranged brain surgeon. The version I saw was in French, though the actors clearly spoke English on the set; this only added to the strangeness of the experience. Oh, and good luck to anyone trying to figure out what the title has to do with anything else. (**)

I really don't know how much money Charles Bronson used to make when he appeared in these overseas films, it must have been a nice chunk of change. This movie is hardly watchable. If you are a fan of the lead actors, you probably won't mind watching this once. Otherwise avoid this film at all costs.