518:. The comparison is inevitable, because thematically the films have a good deal in common, charting the gradual mental dissolution of their spectral heroines. Symptoms imitates, but also improves on its original in a multiplicity of ways. The muted love affair between Pleasence and Lorna Heilbron is etched with enormous suggestiveness, and Larraz’s eye for visual detail is mesmerizing."
274:, has recently returned to her native England after working abroad, and had lost touch with Anne. Helen had broken up with her boyfriend John. The two women have dinner, start a fire in the hearth, during a storm, and talk over tea before going to bed. Helen asks Anne what she thinks happens after death.
306:
her, she stabs him repeatedly in the face and the back of the head, killing him. She appears to see flashes of Cora standing in an open doorway, illuminated by flashes of lightning during another rainstorm. The next morning, Hannah, Burke, and his protege Nick arrive at the house. In the living room,
289:
That night, Anne is awoken by moaning noises. She asks Helen if someone else could be living in the house, but Helen dismisses the idea. John arrives at the house to pick up Anne, but Anne insists on staying a few days longer due to Helen's fragile emotional state. Helen observes John kissing Anne in
434:
Pleasence described the film shoot as consisting of long days which required her to "get up at four in the morning, and not be home before eleven at night," and noted that director Larraz was controlling on set. Pleasence had known co-star Peter
Vaughan since her childhood as he was a friend of her
301:
At the house, Anne's dead body sits in a chair in Helen's bedroom, and Helen is plagued by disembodied voices and other phenomenon. During a rainstorm, John arrives looking for Anne, and enters though an unlocked door. Upstairs, Helen stabs him in the head and neck numerous times, killing him. That
277:
The next morning, Helen stops by a chemist store in town, where the clerk Mr. Burke asks about her friend, Cora Porter; she tells him she is not with her. Back at the manor, Helen and Anne go for a walk through the woods. At the lake, Helen tells Anne that someone drowned themselves there. The two
281:
Helen continues to have trouble sleeping at the house, and hears voices emanating from the attic one night. The following morning, Anne borrows Helen's car to drive to town. On the way home, she stops by the lake and smokes a cigarette, where she is confronted by Brady, who introduces himself. He
278:
women take a boat out onto the water, which unnerves Helen. En route home, they encounter Brady, a handyman who lives in the stables on the property; Anne comments that he was staring at Helen, and Helen responds by saying he disgusts her. Later, Helen spies on him with binoculars from the house.
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wrote, "it’s a slow burner but John Scott’s excellent score and Larraz’s sparse but effective use of shock tactics (a face at a window; a briefly glimpsed figure at the edge of the frame that really shouldn’t be there) ensure a mounting sense of dread. Pleasence steals the show but is capably
442:
Actress Lorna
Heilbron recalled the Larraz as being "intense" and approaching the script in a "psychological way." She stated that she was not provided the entire script until well after she had been cast in the part of Anne. Both Heilbron and Pleasence stated in 2016 interviews that they had
297:
Hannah, the housekeeper, arrives in the morning, and finds Helen asleep on the couch; Helen asks her not to return for several days, saying she needs solitude. Later at the drugstore, Hannah tells Mr. Burke about the interaction, and recalls that she once saw Cora having sex with Brady in the
302:
night Brady stops by Helen's house to confront her about Cora, whose decomposing body he has found in the lake. He has cut off some off Cora's hair and brought it with him to show Helen. He tells Helen he witnessed her push Cora in, but she coolly denies it. When he threatens to
269:
The reclusive Helen invites her friend Anne, a writer, to stay the weekend with her at her family's estate. The large manor, located near a lake in a forest, is overgrown with foliage and has mostly been untouched for an extended period of time. Helen, a
31:
282:
mentions Helen's friend Cora, whose photograph Anne recalls seeing in the house. Anne returns to the house where she finds Helen distraught over her absence. She confides in Anne that she is ill, and Anne suggests they return to
298:
stables, and has not seen her since. While walking through the woods, Helen is confronted by Brady, who asks her about Anne's whereabouts; when he intimates that she murdered Anne and Cora, Helen runs away in a panic.
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were missing for many years; the film was last shown on
British television in 1989, although it circulated privately through bootlegs. In February 2016, it was announced that with the help of the
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they find Brady's corpse. While searching upstairs, they find John's body in the hallway, and Helen staring blankly through the window. In the yard, she watches as Brady and Cora embrace.
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The film opens with brief flashes of a man and a woman embracing. The man later proves to be Brady, the "odd-job man." There is also a flash of the woman's body floating in the lake.
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marked the beginning of a working relationship between Larraz and
Smedley-Aston; Smedley-Aston would also later work with several American directors, including
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for the first time by Mondo
Macabro home video. The same year, it received a DVD and Blu-ray release in the United Kingdom by the British Film Institute.
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372:
According to editor Brian
Smedley-Aston, Larraz financed the picture himself from his income as a comic book artist and photographer. According to the
250:, follows a woman who goes to stay with a friend at her family remote English manor where all is not as it seems. The film had its premiere at the
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was cast in the role of Helen Ramsey, but was forced to drop out of the production last-minute due to the fact that she was not a member of the
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The film was shot in
Harefield Grove, a grade-II listed, early-nineteenth-century country house in the London borough of
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concluded, "a truly chilling atmosphere is created, but its effectiveness is lost when the gore takes over", while the
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also noted the parallel, writing that it was: "the finest
British horror movie from a foreigner since Polanski's
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the car, and is upset. That night, Helen's attention is drawn to an attic door in her bedroom, and she begins to
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furiously. Anne gets up to investigate the noises she hears and is startled by a figure who stabs her to death.
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assisted by Lorna
Heilbron as the new object of her twisted affection and Peter Vaughan."
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as the first official
British entry. The film was released under the alternate title
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A New Heritage of Horror: The English Gothic Cinema, Revised and Updated Edition
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Smedley-Aston, Brian (2016). "An Interview with Brian Smedley-Aston".
474:, the prints had been obtained and the film would be released on DVD.
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954:
Uneasy Dreams: The Golden Age of British Horror Films, 1956–1976
686:
Pleasence, Angela (2016). "An Interview with Angela Pleasence".
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482:
In 2016, the film was released in the United States on DVD and
776:"Lost Euro-Horror Film 'Symptoms' Unearthed by Mondo Macabro!"
373:
990:
Smith, L.S. (2002). Chibnall, Steve; Petley, Julian (eds.).
718:
Heilbron, Lorna (2016). "An Interview with Lorna Heilbron".
750:"10 great overlooked British horror films of the 1970s"
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remained close personal friends since making the film.
918:. New York City, New York: Columbia University Press.
415:; Angela Pleasence was then cast in the leading role.
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648:"Symptoms: the lost classic of 70s horror is back"
458:as the first official British entry in May 1974.
975:. New York City, New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
916:Frightmares: A History of British Horror Cinema
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8:
1271:Films with screenplays by José Ramón Larraz
494:Film scholars have noted parallels between
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286:, but Helen refuses, and then kisses her.
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956:. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland.
774:Coffel, Christopher (4 February 2016).
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760:from the original on 4 December 2017.
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658:from the original on 3 December 2016
1251:Films directed by José Ramón Larraz
806:"Symptoms Blu-ray (United Kingdom)"
343:Marie-Paule Mailleux as Cora Porter
1246:British psychological horror films
14:
1231:British psychological drama films
937:. London, England: I.B. Tauris.
748:Lyons, Kevin (7 November 2016).
427:, where Larraz would later film
246:. The film, based on a story by
994:. London, England: Routledge.
1:
1296:English-language horror films
1226:British mystery horror films
1221:1970s English-language films
1261:Films set in country houses
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1291:British LGBT-related films
1286:1970s mystery horror films
1276:Rediscovered British films
1241:British exploitation films
1236:British horror drama films
413:Actors' Equity Association
1266:LGBT-related horror films
462:Obscurity and rediscovery
456:1974 Cannes Film Festival
252:1974 Cannes Film Festival
228:psychological horror film
28:
1216:1970s rediscovered films
973:Seventies British Cinema
1211:1974 LGBT-related films
1088:The House That Vanished
952:Smith, Gary A. (2006).
466:The original prints of
971:Shail, Robert (2008).
754:British Film Institute
652:British Film Institute
553:British Film Institute
472:British Film Institute
992:British Horror Cinema
933:Pirie, David (2008).
340:Ronald O'Neil as John
167:10 May 1974
914:Cooper, Ian (2016).
1281:1970s British films
140:Finiton Productions
117:Brian Smedley-Aston
1151:The National Mummy
865:on 7 November 2017
726:). Interviewed by
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490:Critical reception
351:(as Michael Grady)
226:is a 1974 British
150:Bryanston Pictures
49:(as Joseph Larraz)
1206:1974 horror films
1188:
1187:
1116:The Coming of Sin
1059:José Ramón Larraz
1001:978-0-415-23003-2
982:978-1-844-57273-1
963:978-1-476-60530-2
944:978-1-845-11481-7
925:978-0-993-07174-4
780:Bloody-Disgusting
549:"Symptoms (1974)"
454:premiered at the
232:José Ramón Larraz
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58:José Ramón Larraz
45:José Ramón Larraz
35:Theatrical poster
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863:the original
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788:. Retrieved
784:the original
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190:Running time
160:Release date
109:Trevor Wrenn
68:
18:
894:29 November
869:30 December
830:Cooper 2016
810:Blu-ray.com
790:27 December
728:Tombs, Pete
696:Tombs, Pete
662:28 December
627:Tombs, Pete
563:23 December
409:Jean Seberg
394:(1976) and
248:Thomas Owen
196:81 minutes
80:Produced by
74:Thomas Owen
41:Directed by
1201:1974 films
1195:Categories
885:"Symptoms"
855:"Symptoms"
842:Pirie 2008
602:Shail 2008
590:Smith 2002
578:Smith 2006
535:References
478:Home media
425:Hillingdon
378:The Smurfs
363:Production
347:Mike Grady
292:masturbate
272:translator
194:91 minutes
171:1974-05-10
133:Production
126:John Scott
1081:Deviation
1074:Whirlpool
815:5 January
516:Repulsion
505:Repulsion
368:Financing
337:as Hannah
304:blackmail
114:Edited by
16:1974 film
1109:Vampyres
1102:Symptoms
1018:Symptoms
889:TV Guide
758:Archived
720:Symptoms
688:Symptoms
656:Archived
619:Symptoms
523:TV Guide
511:Time Out
508:(1965).
496:Symptoms
468:Symptoms
452:Symptoms
429:Vampyres
400:(1978).
382:Symptoms
358:as Burke
349:as Nick
325:as Brady
223:Symptoms
212:Language
122:Music by
88:Starring
69:Symptoms
65:Based on
24:Symptoms
907:Sources
724:Blu-ray
692:Blu-ray
623:Blu-ray
484:Blu-ray
447:Release
419:Filming
404:Casting
215:English
204:Country
169: (
135:company
1144:Stigma
998:
979:
960:
941:
922:
391:Squirm
284:London
242:, and
178:Cannes
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