musikone Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 The so-called "music" score to this movie is horrendous. The background sound effects cannot in any way be conceived as music; rather, there is a little genuine music with a lot of indescribable (but not accidental) background noise -- clicks, knocks, shrieks, or whatever. When the volume level is correct for dialogue, in the absence of background noise, this noise blasts your eardrums without any warning at a high decibel level! The only relief to this frequent intrusion throughout the movie is to have your finger on the mute button--ready to go at a moment's notice. You will need to mute the noise when there is no apparent dialogue and restore the sound when new dialogue is apparent. This is a tortuous imposition upon the viewer. Apart from driving one to distraction with odd noises, the acting in this movie is superb. It is an excellent example of late-classic horror/suspense movie-making. In summary, the horror of the movie is matched only by the horror of the intentional background noises. musikone Edited by: musikone on Mar 9, 2012 10:16 PM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredCDobbs Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 Oh... never mind. It was on last night. Glad I didn't see it. Edited by: FredCDobbs on Mar 9, 2012 8:40 PM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musikone Posted March 10, 2012 Author Share Posted March 10, 2012 FredCDobbs wrote:Oh... never mind. It was on last night. Glad I didn't see it. Edited by: FredCDobbs on Mar 9, 2012 8:40 PM You should have said that you are glad that you didn't *hear* it! musikone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TopBilled Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 I agree that the acting is superb in this movie. This is an example where chewing the scenery actually heightens the tension...and with two pros like Page and Gordon, it doesn't get any better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sepiatone Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 I have to agree that the proper background music is essential for setting up a scene or the overall mood of a picture. I was thinking sort of the same thing, musikone, as I watched this thing before. Dreadful noise. Perhaps the composer thought the dreadful cacophony would heighten the suspense? Sure misfired in this one. But the idea of music and mood can be illustrated by several YouTube clips my daughter sent me. By careful editing, and a change in music, the movie *The Shining* was made to look like a lighthearted family movie, while another one, called *Christmas Gory* did the same to make *Christmas Story* look like a horror flick. Just the trailers, mind you. Talk show host Jimmy Kimmel occasionally does a bit where he changes the background music in a movie clip, and it changes the whole perspective of the mood of the scene. It's at once funny and thought provoking. Sepiatone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 The acting is terrific: Gerladine Page, Ruth Gordon, and Mildred Dunnock are great. Not too hot for Robert Fuller or Rosemary Forsyth. Funny, I don't remember the music. Was it one of thos harpischord things? Love those pine trees! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hibi Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 When the movie (which is full of plot holes) concentrates on Page and Gordon, it's fun. But the other subplots are yawn inducing (Forsyth, Page's relatives etc...) Why didnt Gordon call the police in the first place instead of masquerading??? (I know, then there wouldnt be any movie.........) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sepiatone Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 Then there wouldn't be any movie? Well, there WASN'T really, was there? Sepiatone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hibi Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 Not much........... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sepiatone Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 drednm, it falls into that odd category of movies where the acting is top shelf, but the movie blows anyway. Like that movie *The Hours* . Sepiatone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCannady1 Posted February 24, 2016 Share Posted February 24, 2016 The acting is terrific: Gerladine Page, Ruth Gordon, and Mildred Dunnock are great. Not too hot for Robert Fuller or Rosemary Forsyth. Funny, I don't remember the music. Was it one of thos harpischord things? Love those pine trees! THe book is good too called The Forbidden Garden by Ursula Curtiss. I used to work in a library when I was very young. I happened to run across the book one day when looking at Mysteries Section. About a year later he movie came out. By the title, I knew it was based on this book. There are some changes, but I don't want to spoil it by revealing them. Geraldine, Ruth and Mildred were all very good. ... Yes, MRs. Marable planted a new tree every time she found an "investment" victim. THe book is even more grim! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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