Suggestion: Wait Until Dark (1967)

[JesOko 1]

I would love to see this film debated for the Canon.

 

For those not familiar with this movie, "Wait Until Dark" is a late 60's thriller/horror film that stars Audrey Hepburn. The story, at its most basic, is about a blind woman named Susy (Hepburn) who is stalked and manipulated by a pair of drug traffickers. I don't want to give anything else away in case there are Canon fans who like to watch the movie suggestions to form an opinion on them.

 

I'm normally not a girl who throws suggestions in the ring (I'd rather just be taken along for the ride), but I was reading an article today about a new Netflix horror film called "Hush", and "Wait Until Dark" is cited as one of the inspirations for it. I had been debating on nominating this film for awhile, but the article really cinched it for me. As soon as I finished it, I came right here.

 

"Wait Until Dark" is a horror film for those of us who prefer our scares to be based on elements other than gore and violence. In my opinion, this movie and its ilk were mistakenly left behind as horror film-makers were given more freedom to explore the more visceral (bloody) side of death and fear in the 70's and up until today. This movie instead relies upon the emotional connection between the audience and Susy (something that Hepburn is known for) combined with claustrophobia and audience awareness to slowly build tension over time.

 

Bravo ranked the climactic scene of "Wait Until Dark" as #10 in its miniseries "The 100 Scariest Movie Moments", and it was #55 on AFI's "100 Years... 100 Thrills" list.

 

Hepburn was nominated for an Academy Award for her role in the film.

 

And it currently has a Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes; 94% from critics and 91% from the audience.

 

This is a wonderfully well crafted film that I would love to see talked about more. It was one of the most popular movies in 1967 and I think it more than deserves consideration for the Canon.

 

Thanks, guys!

[Llewellyn_Wells 47]

It's about time we get some Hepburn!

[JesOko 1]

I agree. I love her, and this is one of my favorite Audrey Hepburn movies. It's a shame that it's not very well known in my age group (Gen X) and younger. And so far, I think there is an abundance of gore and slasher oriented horror in the Canon, so it would be nice to see some departures from that be considered, especially for people like me who prefer older horror movies that don't rely on those things.

 

There's always room for Hitchcock of course, but none of his movies have Audrey Hepburn in them.

[JonHillman 40]

This was the movie that introduced me to Audrey Hepburn and is still my favorite of her performances. Please, yes!