The Penthouse

Two thugs, armed with nothing more than a a very small knife, take over a couple's 'love nest' almost at will. They then proceed to 'terrorize' them which consists of nothing more than talking for the next ninety minutes. The only action comes, literally, when one of the thugs takes a sausage out of the refrigerator and eats it.

There is a certain stylish quality mixed in with some 60's kitsch that,at the beginning, gives it a certain avant-garde quality. This though is soon killed by it's very pedestrian script. The thugs go from being child like to dumb and the couple is just plain boring. Why we should have any concern for these people is about as nebulous as to why any of this is even happening. The whole thing is stretched out so much that one is incredulous to believe that the director really thought any viewer would find this even remotely gripping or suspenseful.

Flat and forgettable. The only distinction this has is to see just how boring and uninvolving a film purported to be a 'thriller' can be. It's hard to imagine that there could be anything worse.

This one of a number of movies that were popular in the 60's and 70's (i.e. "Cape Fear", "Kitten with a Whip", "Lady in a Cage", "Wait Until Dark", "Straw Dogs", "Death Game")where complacent middle-class people find their comfortable lifestyles (and often their very lives) threatened by lower-class cretins, who rather being after just the usual things (money, sex), almost seem to have been sent as divine messengers to punish them for their sins. In this particularly nasty example a married, middle-age business man is in his isolated luxury penthouse with his young mistress when the two are attacked by a trio of crazed and seemingly motiveless characters calling themselves "Tom", "Dick", and "Harry" (the latter is a woman brilliantly played by ex-Bond girl Martine Beswick). The criminals soon expose both the immoral lifestyle of the couple and the cracks in their shallow relationship of convenience.

The movie is every bit as sleazy as the more notorious "Straw Dogs" (and it shows what you can get away with in Britain and America if you only adopt the proper moralistic tone). The two men take turns raping Kendall, but a la "Straw Dogs" her rape is portrayed more as a humiliation of her boyfriend than of her as she gets drunk and develops the most rapid case of Stockholm Syndrome in history and thus may be an at least somewhat willing participant.

The movie was no doubt based on a stage play--it has a very limited set and excessive amount of dialogue--and the stageiness gets a little annoying at times. Still it is one of the more interesting films of director Pete Collinson ("Straight on Until Morning", "Fright") who was the three Pete's of British genre cinema (the other two being Pete Walker and Pete Sasdy). Oh yeah, and it has some very uncharacteristic (if pretty tame)nude scenes from Suzie Kendall. Not a bad to kill way an hour and a half overall.

One of the best English movies. Static, everything is only happening in an apartment, but what a story, what a valuable interpretation, all the actors are absolutely exceptional. The best part I've seen Martine Beswick. The best role for Suzy Kendall, which was of a rare beauty, what a gorgeous ass, a pity that she did not show her front beauty too... Terence Morgan also saw him in those two films with Surcouf as Lord Blackwood, but I already think this Bruce Victor was his most accomplished character ever. Tony Beckley, an exceptional actor, I saw him in very good films: "Chimes at Midnight" (1965), "The Italian Job"(1969)(directed by the same Peter Collinson), "Get Carter"(1971). Norman Rodway was also an exceptional actor, also featured in "Chimes at Midnight"(1965) and many other movies. A simply great movie!

We'll find another link of this scheme in Collinson's filmography by watching OPEN SEASON, FRIGHT, STRAIGHT ON TILL MORNING which the story is not the same but the atmosphere, distrubing, nasty, making the audiences very uncomfortable. But if you have seen FUNNY GAMES - both versions - you'll also think about PENTHOUSE. Among the best home invasion topics films ever. But prepare not to watch this with the parents in law or the youngest in the family. Delicious, nasty, excellent, repugnant. A pure masterpiece. The ending, the very moral ending made me think a little about SNOW THERAPY, around some kind of couple analysis.... The only difference is that in this movie, it is not question of an avalanche but a couple of punks disturbing the peace. If you can go beyond this film if you accept it, maybe you'll succeed with CLOCKWORK ORANGE.

If Peter Collinson's intention when writing and directing this film was to present the most bizarre characters imaginable, then he has succeeded admirably. If, however, he was trying to make a serious thriller with genuine excitement, realistic situations and a meaningful underlying moral subtext, then he has failed utterly.

The story has married estate agent Bruce Victor (Terence Morgan) and his secret lover Barbara Willason (Suzy Kendall) shacking up in a penthouse suite in an unfinished tower block. A pair of knife-wielding hoodlums turn up, posing as meter readers, and proceed to hold the adulterous lovers at knifepoint. Bruce is tied up and forced to look on as the lecherous intruders get Barbara well-and-truly drunk and then degrade her for their entertainment.

The film is based on a stage play, and it comes across - unsurprisingly - as a very stagy, talky affair. This is not necessarily a weakness (films like Sleuth, made five years after this, proved that stagy and talky films can actually be very good). However, The Penthouse is not only stagy and talky - it is very unpleasant too. The characters are awfully hard to like and their predicaments are extremely difficult to care about. Director Collinson frequently demonstrated a fascination with violence and aggression during his career, and this is a perfect vehicle for his favourite two themes. Collinson also had a fondness for stylistic flourishes in his movies, but here his outlandish camera angles and visual/aural tricks seem merely self-indulgent and meaningless. For the first twenty minutes, the film's surreal style is oddly enjoyable, but it pretty soon becomes wearisome. On the whole, The Penthouse is a failure and the fact that it is rarely-seen ought to be viewed as a blessing in disguise!