What: The Hitchcock film that Hitch never made. Wait Until Dark is an honest-to-goodness thriller starring Audrey Hepburn as a blind woman who is terrorized by drug-running thugs, including Alan Arkin at his badass best (before he became everyone's spunky grandpa).
Crucially, the film flips how darkness is usually used to ratchet up the suspense. Here, darkness is an asset to the protagonist, not a liability. See Ms. Hepburn holding that match? That's a threat.
Comparable to: The film is based on a play by Frederick Knott, who also wrote Dial M for Murder. The two stories definitely have similarities, but Wait Until Dark is creepier.
Representative quote: "I have your knife, Mr. Roat." (In context, that line gives me chills.)
You might not like it if: The late-'60s vibe grates on you and you wonder where Susy's iPhone is.
How to get it: No matter how you watch it, this is the key: For the last 15 minutes of the film, turn off all the lights. Theaters were instructed to do that when the movie first came out, and it is still very good advice.
[Originally posted 1/25/11.]
Comparable to: The film is based on a play by Frederick Knott, who also wrote Dial M for Murder. The two stories definitely have similarities, but Wait Until Dark is creepier.
Representative quote: "I have your knife, Mr. Roat." (In context, that line gives me chills.)
You might not like it if: The late-'60s vibe grates on you and you wonder where Susy's iPhone is.
How to get it: No matter how you watch it, this is the key: For the last 15 minutes of the film, turn off all the lights. Theaters were instructed to do that when the movie first came out, and it is still very good advice.
[Originally posted 1/25/11.]
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