Shameless Self Expression

Twenty-ish college student Emilia Jones works at an arty movie theatre and meets the somewhat older Nicholas Braun, and they quickly get awkward and defensive with one another. Somehow he still asks for her number and they soon start dating. And she soon starts imagining that he violently attacks her. Also, she lies about her age to him, which totally won’t come back to bite her. Hope Davis plays Jones’ mother, Geraldine Viswanathan plays her feminist roommate who encourages Jones’ fears.   This may be the hardest review I’ve ever had to write, because I’m going to be talking about a film that I’ve failed to understand the filmmaker’s intent with, knowing full well that I’ve misunderstood the intent having subsequently read what both the filmmaker and original author intended. And I’m going to try to explain why I still believe that what I actually took from the film is a valid interpretation of what is there on screen, and I’m going blame the filmmakers for my own misunderst...

  Set in Victorian London, with Eric Porter plays a doctor and disciple of Sigmund Freud who becomes obsessed with the case of Angharad Rees, accused of killing her guardian (Dora Bryan), a phony medium. The supposed theory is that Rees is somehow possessed by the spirit of Jack the Ripper, but Porter believes there has to be a rational, psychological explanation and puts her under hypnosis to find it and cure her. Meanwhile, more ripping murders keep occurring in London. Derek Godfrey plays a sleazy politician who pays Bryan for the ‘right’ to take Rees’ virginity and subsequently witnesses Bryan’s brutal murder. Keith Bell and Jane Merrow play Porter’s son and his sweet-natured, blind wife respectively.   A solid but clearly overpopulated 1971 Hammer film from director Peter Sasdy ( “Taste the Blood of Dracula” , “Countess Dracula” ). Scripted by L.W. Davidson (who wrote three episodes of “The Alfred Hitchcock Hour” ) from a short story by Edward Spencer Shew there...