Wait Until Dark (1967)

Fantastic, 5 February 2005

A lot has happened to Susy Hendrix in the past year - she lost her sight in an auto accident, she got married, and now her husband has unknowingly brought home a doll full of heroin. Three men will do whatever it takes to get the doll. At first they try to trick her. When this doesn't work, they resort to violence.

The con the three men attempt to work on Susy is amazing to watch unfold. They come to her one at a time with a story that slowly unfolds. They force Susy to believe that her husband was involved with a murder of a woman and that finding the doll is the only way to save him. The con reaches a point where Susy would do anything to get rid of the doll. But they push their luck a little too far and Susy starts to suspect that something is wrong. The con men believe they could pull one over on her because she is blind, but that doesn't mean she is stupid. Wait Until Dark may not be a traditional horror movie, but the final fifteen minutes or so with Susy and Roat alone in the darkened apartment are as gut-wrenching as I've ever seen. The horror comes from the situation Susy is faced with, the fact that we already know what Roat is capable of, and Susy's fragility and blindness. Together, these factors make for a very exhilarating ending.

The acting in Wait Until Dark is phenomenal. I cannot tell you how impressed I was with Audrey Hepburn playing the blind Susy Hendrix. I bought her "blind act" from the first moment she appeared on screen. I'm not surprised that Hepburn was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance. And Alan Arkin is so deliciously psychotic as Roat. You really get the feeling he is capable of anything. Richard Crenna and Jack Watson are also quite good as the ther two con men.

9/10