See No Evil (1971)
Review by HTQ4
Film:
DVD:

Written by Brian Clemmens
Directed by Richard Fleischer
Starring Mia Farrow, Dorothy Allison, Robin Bailey, Diane Grayson, Brian Rawlinson

Released by: Columbia Tristar
Rating: R
Region: 1
Anamorphic: Yes

My Advice: Lay it down and avoid it

Sarah (Farrow) has recently been blinded in a horse riding accident. So, after her recovery, she goes to stay with her aunt and uncle in the British countryside. While she is there, she goes on a date with a long lost love, but while she is gone, everyone in the house is brutally murdered. When she comes back, she just thinks that the house is empty because she just barely misses their bodies lying around. When she finally discovers the next day that they have been murdered, she has to use her remaining senses to try to solve the whodunnit.

And that's really about it. I'm sure that the idea of Farrow wondering around a house full of dead bodies was supposed to be scary, but frankly it just came across as almost comical. There were just too many "close calls" for it to have been taken seriously. Granted, if she was blind, there would have been no way for her to know that they were dead, but it seems that she would have called someone to make sure that everything was all right before she went to bed that night. Other than that, Farrow's performance as a visually-impaired person was good, but not stunning. The script was nothing to write home about and the supporting cast's performances were equally mediocre. I hate to bring it up again, but I just couldn't get past the folly that was the cast and crew trying to create suspense in Farrow being in a house surrounded by dead bodies unawares.

The DVD has little to help salvage this as well. There is nothing in the way of special features. Given my feelings about the movie, I would have loved to have had a commentary by the director telling me exactly what he was trying to accomplish with those scenes of a blind girl wondering around the house. Not only that, but an interview with Farrow about her character would have been nice, as well. Or even a featurette about what it takes to play a blind person--something, anything.

So, to paraphrase Eric Idle, this movie is not a movie for watching. It's a movie for laying down and avoiding. Don't every worry about renting it.