Poll Position: Repulsion

I’ve always had a special admiration to British film, mainly to their comedies. I absolutely love Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry and Rowan Atkinson, and they were the ones that got me really into British entertainment. So I asked a few of my cousins on the other side of the Atlantic to recommend me a few ‘classic’ Brit films. And that is where the poll came from essentially. Now the winner was “Repulsion” which was directed by the famous Roman Polanski. After reading a quick summary of this movie, it really triggered my interest. A kind of thriller/horror type of film, and I do have a soft spot for horror. Anyways don’t want to bore you any longer than I have to, my full thoughts after the jump.

A young and very beautiful Carol shares an apartment with her sister Helen. All is good with her sister, expect she hates Helen’s boyfriend, Michael. She especially hates it when his stuff is all over the place. But Carol isn’t the most mentally stable person; she has these sexual fears and desires. During a trip back home from work, a man asks her out on a date where she accepts. But as her life is getting sorted out, Helen and her lover leave for a vacation, this is where all the hallucinations get real as she falls into a world of insanity.

Carol is absolutely gorgeous!

I’ve watched weird movies before, but by far this is the most boring weird movie I’ve seen. I understand that older movies usually have a slower pace which I am fine with for the most part. Problem is Repulsion's pacing is that it is as slow as molasses. The movie takes forever to build up and get going. I was hoping that this all would build up for a grand finale. But I was disappointed.

Now I got the feeling this movie wasn’t for me early on. So I tried real hard to be open minded about, but it is hard to be open and accepting with a movie I dreaded so much. It would be just unfair to any other movie I watch thereafter. But when it comes to movies, I admire the more action-y, fast pace and ‘brainless’ movies. I consider this movie a piece of art, in the sense that it bored the fuck out of me. I felt like I was staring at something that was supposed to speak to me, but nothing ever really happened.

Oh and don’t get me started on the terrible soundtrack this film has. Not only does it NOT get me into the mood of being ‘scared’ but it actually takes me out of that mood. I was thrown off by the terrible music and was physically angry at myself for watching this.

The creepy hands were a cool effect.

At this point I am going to spoil this movie for you, the reader.

Even the murders she performs near the ending don’t do any justice. Not only are they super slow in pace, they aren’t that dramatic. And this goes back to the boring pacing of the movie. I really cannot express how bored I was watching this movie. I honestly could have watched a blank sheet of paper and gotten a similar amount of joy.

I read reviews about how this movie brought you into Carol's world, you felt what she was feeling. I felt none of this immersion, sadly I felt the exact opposite. I was so put out of this film, I could barely stand it.

There are particularly two cool things about this movie, and they are very specific. The last scene with the hands coming out of the walls was neat. And I really found the cars in the background interesting. I think I pointed out few Austin-Healeys, plentiful of Minis and might have even seen a Triumph. These classic cars were not only amazing British sports cars, but were the landmark in racing history. Oh look at me, going off track with cars instead of watching the movie. Too bad, ‘cause that is exactly how I felt watching Repulsion.

This dreaded movie sucked, not going to hide it at all. I rather watch a snails race in 1/64th speed than ever watch Repulsion movie again. Now I can say the obvious pun that can sum up this movie, but I don’t even think it is worth it. This movie sucks; there is nothing appealing about it. I am sure there are folks out there that find this movie to be ‘art’ and tell me that it is ‘beyond my comprehension’. And my response would be, I rather watch True Lies with a beer in one hand and a middle finger in other. Because I’m classy like that.

I secretly hope that Jim enjoyed this film, so someone can tell me, first hand, why this movie is accepted as being 'great'.