Starring - Peter McEnery (Witchcraft, Hammer House of Horror), Diane Cilento (The Wicker Man, Dead Planet), and Glenda Jackson (Sunday Bloody Sunday, The Devil is a Woman)
Release Date - 1968
Genre - Drama
Tagline - "A bizarre modern drama of a man and two women locked in a sensual game of sex"
Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)
Rating (out of 5):
Severin recently released a few of Peter Medak's more not so known films. The first was the 2018 documentary The Ghost of Peter Sellers which was about the making of his ill-fated pirate film with comedy superstar Peter Sellers. It was then that I realized just how extraordinary Medak's career had been. He helmed the classic horror film The Changeling along with episodes of Masters of Horror, Tales from the Crypt, The Twilight Zone, Breaking Bad, and many more. Talk about a fucking legend. When Severin sent over The Ghost of Peter Sellers, they also included a few more releases with one being a double feature featuring the 1968 Medak film Negatives. This was another new one to me and I couldn't wait to check it out. Like always, I want to thank the fine folks over at Severin for sending this one over!
The film follows a couple who stay to themselves and their sexual exploration is mostly role playing with each other. However, their worlds come crashing down when a new woman moves in near them and becomes infatuated with the couple. The man wants to begin role playing as a different person than his normal persona and this causes a rift between the long time couple.
I went into Negatives really excited after watching The Ghost of Peter Sellers and The Odd Job. I really enjoyed both of those films but Negatives just wasn't for me. Hell, I don't know who this movie would be for but it sure as shit wasn't for me. The acting in this one is probably the best part of the movie. The cast does a wonderful job and the characters are rather enjoyable. Honestly, I wish these characters had a better story to shine in than what they were given. The story for this one is a bit of a drag but had some interesting ideas. A young couple who never got along unless they were role playing finding themselves falling apart with the introduction of a new woman has every right to be a fantastic sexploitation film. However, making this story fit into a cheap drama with no humor or sex appeal is a huge miss. Finally, those wanting blood or skin will be greatly disappointed. The film is a character driven story that would have worked if it embraced the sex and not the weird drama tone it went for. Overall, Negatives is a movie that I was really looking forward to but just couldn't get into. While I loved the characters, I disliked everything else with this one. Skip it for The Odd Job!
No comments:
Post a Comment