Quick Review: Don’t Look Now (1973)

DON’T LOOK NOW

BY CHRISTOPHER HASKELL
OCTOBER 19, 2013

On the surface, “Don’t Look Now” is a chilling journey in the world of psychics and profound emotional loss. The question to ask is whether the film is terrifying or if its horror comes from the ’70s nature of the film. Horror films like “Rosemary’s Baby” and “The Birds” are made scarier by the old-fashioned feel of the medium of old film. The grainy look and stiff performances are eerie, like looking at solemn black-and-white photos from the early ’90s, where no one ever smiles. Donald Sutherland provides a triumphant role as a grieving father, facing off with relocating to a foreign country after the loss of his daughter, along with a blind psychic that warns him of imminent danger. Not quite to the standards of Hitchcock or Polanski, Roeg does a commendable job of imitating these directors, but for the most part, delivers a straightforward thriller with little to no tension.