Released in the early 1970's this film is most definitely a bizarre and somewhat off putting which may be rather disturbing to certain audiences. With no knowledge of the film and having not viewed any trailers prior to watching, had no expectations of what to expect.
The acting by all the performers is convincing and solid all around. Especially by the lead 12 year old Marcus portraying a very smart and sly kid who does sneakily things undercover.
Most of the film surrounds around the relationships among the new young step wife Elise and how she sees and depicts Marcus, along with her interest in finding about how his mother passed away.
The pacing is somewhat off where there are points in the beginning where it's dull and involves a lot of dialogue, while other parts are intriguing and we continue to watch to see where things lead.
The ending about last 15 minutes is rather confusing as there are several dreamlike and hallucinations of Elise in the hospital, where we don't know what actually happened and what are hallucinations. Now after it was revealed she got out of the hospital (the time frame isn't clear), we see her, the father and Marcus reuniting and talking very happily.
The very ending was somewhat unexpected as Elise seemingly shoves Marcus on in-coming traffic ultimately killing him. Very unexpected and bizarre considering her and Marcus were just talking about future plans (also plans of killing his father). We never got a sense of what Elise was truly thinking which is what made her character appealing.
In the end, this film is quite slow, has its moments and is rather a bizarre story but intriguing.
The acting by all the performers is convincing and solid all around. Especially by the lead 12 year old Marcus portraying a very smart and sly kid who does sneakily things undercover.
Most of the film surrounds around the relationships among the new young step wife Elise and how she sees and depicts Marcus, along with her interest in finding about how his mother passed away.
The pacing is somewhat off where there are points in the beginning where it's dull and involves a lot of dialogue, while other parts are intriguing and we continue to watch to see where things lead.
The ending about last 15 minutes is rather confusing as there are several dreamlike and hallucinations of Elise in the hospital, where we don't know what actually happened and what are hallucinations. Now after it was revealed she got out of the hospital (the time frame isn't clear), we see her, the father and Marcus reuniting and talking very happily.
The very ending was somewhat unexpected as Elise seemingly shoves Marcus on in-coming traffic ultimately killing him. Very unexpected and bizarre considering her and Marcus were just talking about future plans (also plans of killing his father). We never got a sense of what Elise was truly thinking which is what made her character appealing.
In the end, this film is quite slow, has its moments and is rather a bizarre story but intriguing.