Symptoms (1974)

A young woman is invited by her girlfriend, who lives in an English country mansion, to stay there with her; the estate, however, isn't quite what it seems--and neither is the friend who issued the invitation.

Atmospheric and stylish thriller that creates a dreamlike mindscape where all males are annoying intruders and the English woods appear like a jungle; unsual, but the plot itself is not too original.

Halliwell*: "Creepy thriller with lesbian undertones, stylishly directed."

 

New acquisitions: Symptoms (1974)

The official British Palme d’Or entry at the 1974 Cannes Film Festival, Symptoms is a sophisticated modern gothic horror film exploring the themes of sexual repression and psychosis.

Larraz’s dark and stylish film tells of a young woman (Lorna Heilbron) who is invited by her girlfriend (Angela Pleasence) to stay at her remote English country mansion. Events take a disturbing turn when a menacing groundkeeper (Peter Vaughan) interrupts their time together, and a woman’s body is found in the mansion’s lake.

Other than a limited theatrical release and a late-night screening on British television in the early 80s, Larraz’s film has slipped into obscurity, and the original negative was long thought lost, assuring it a place in the BFI’s ‘Most Wanted’ list. Following the rediscovery of the original negatives in 2014, the dark delights of Symptoms can finally be experienced again in this new restoration, undertaken by the Belgian Cinematek.