That summary may sound a little harsh, but it's not far off in describing Pete Walker's "Die Screaming, Marianne". The biggest problem is that for a supposed psychological "thriller", this comes up awfully short on *thrills*. It works as an amusing, soap opera style melodrama, but is much too leisurely for its own good. And, to be perfectly frank, it's not terribly well written. The absolutely stunning Susan George plays Marianne, a poor little rich girl on the run who is practically forced into marriage by a stranger named Sebastian (Christopher Sandford). However, his plan goes awry when the name of his friend Eli (Barry Evans) mistakenly ends up on the marriage certificate. Sebastian drops out of the picture, if only for a bit, while Eli eventually has to be told the truth about his new bride: she's due to inherit a sizable sum upon her 21st birthday, which is imminent, and there are those in her family who want either revenge or to get their hands on the money and / or incriminating documents. Said relatives include a father (Leo Genn) who was a crooked judge, and a venal and nasty half sister (Judy Huxtable). "Die Screaming, Marianne" doesn't offer more than moderate entertainment. It does feature some impressive location work and scenery, and fine supporting performances by all, but its main drawing card - which is good enough of a hook - is its showcasing of the luscious young George in the leading role. She's often dressed quite provocatively and, in fact, Marianne likes to dance in a bikini. Ms. George makes this whole thing worth sitting through, and Evans is very likable as the true innocent of the piece. One can't help but feel some disdain towards the character of Marianne for being too cagey and not telling Eli the whole story when it would have helped him more; besides, she was doing nobody any favours by delaying the inevitable set of confrontations. The movie really could have used *some* more action, and only starts to get good near the end. It makes the mistake that a fair amount of movies make by being too talky and stretching out things too much. It's a pity - this easily could have been more fun. But Walker would only get better as he went along, creating such fine entries in the British New Wave of horror as "The Flesh and Blood Show", "Frightmare", and "House of Whipcord". Five out of 10.
Review of Die Screaming Marianne
