Thanks for the memories!

Crappy film

Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

The film, looks, sounds, 'feels' exactly typical of its period. The colour, camera angles, use of music, are similar to other films, particularly The Strange Affair, All neat in black stockings, Fright and, as biggee writes, in another review, the brilliant, almost forgotten, I start counting.Similarly the portrayal of young girls as provocative 'sex objects' without any hint of embarrassment, discernment or question, and that's not a criticism, that's what life was like - at least certainly at my school.Reasonable acting, I do like the period fashions and behaviours and cars and would watch it just for that. There are plenty of red herrings but, slight spoiler coming, if you look with care when Suzy Kendall sees the murderer in her car's rear view mirror - you only get a split second glimpse, you can see who the murderer is.

Not particularly explicit and barely any blood, this is nevertheless packed with red herrings and starring Suzy Kendall, so the fact that this is pretty much a British giallo does not come as such a surprise. Sleazy subject matter, schoolgirls getting raped in the woods behind the school and poor old Lesley-Anne Down gets it twice, although I reckon they used the same footage twice. Even so this starts at quite a pace with not just one girl chased through those woods but almost immediately afterwards another. The rest of the film is more a who-dun-it but keeps the attention and if some are under performing, like the very poor offering from Frank Finlay (never knew he was that small!) the rest acquit themselves well enough.

Assault is apparently a British attempt at emulating the popular Italian Giallo sub-genre. If that is indeed what the filmmakers were aiming for, it has to be said that they've done a rather good job, as Assault incorporates many of the common Giallo trademarks. We've got a killer on the loose, a number of victims, a police investigation, an eyewitness, lots of red herrings and an unknown assailant, among other things. I'd even go as far as to say that if I didn't know better, I might have thought this was an Italian production, set in the UK. It's unfortunate, then, that director Sidney Hayers wasn't able to take the script and craft an exciting mystery out of it, as the film features far too much talking and not enough action, leaving it caught up in boredom for most of the running time. The plot follows the murder of a young girl in the woods outside of her school. When another is found dead in the same way shortly after, the police are brought in. Their only witness is a young teacher, who says the killer looks like the devil and puts herself on the line to catch the psychopath.One common element of the Italian Giallo is a silly plot, and that has been copied for this film also. The idea regarding the capture of the killer is preposterous, and the murderer would have to be a complete and utter fool to fall for it. The film doesn't seem too keen on keeping itself away from complete farce either, as the climax is very silly and it's often hard to keep a straight face while watching the film unfold, and that's not what you want from a thriller that handles themes of murder and rape. The cast is distinctly British, and Derbyshire-born Giallo star Suzy Kendall, who has also worked with the likes of Dario Argento, Sergio Martino and Umberto Lenzi on Giallo thrillers, takes the lead role and is joined by a host of tea-drinking co-stars. Sidney Hayers' direction is a little turgid at times, although scenes such as the one in which we get an early glimpse of the murderer are well shot. The conclusion to the mystery is disappointing, as the identity of the killer just sort of comes out of nowhere. Overall, this film isn't all that good; but it may appeal to Giallo fans for the fact that it's a Giallo, but it's not Italian.

This was a surprisingly good movie.The plot and acting was good.Whoever composed the background music needs a few musical lessons..but the movie was worth 8/10.