I Start Counting

I truly love those typical 'rural' British thrillers from the late 60's and early 70's! They practically always revolve on hugely controversial topics and feature heavy macabre undertones, and yet they remain very stylish, sophisticated and classy. A couple of notorious examples include "Unman, Wittering and Zigo", "Deadly Strangers", "Crescendo", "Girly", "Twisted Nerve" and some of Hammer's lesser promoted thrillers like "Never Take Candy from Strangers" and "Paranoia". David Greene's "I Start Counting" is also an excellent addition to this list. The principal coming-of-age story is basically already an anathema, but then this plot is simultaneously interwoven with a grim tale of a serial killer on the loose in a small picturesque British village. I was already a great fan of the lovely Jenny Agutter thanks to "An American Werewolf in London" and "Logan's Run", but after seeing this film she's truly immortal to me. Agutter gives away a stellar tour-de-force performance as the cherubic and curious 14 year old Wynne. The romantically inexperienced pubescent girl has a tremendous crush on her 32 year old foster brother and openly talks about her feelings with her school friend Corinne, who claims to have had sex with several boys already. During all her secretly observing and spying, Wynne begins to suspect, however, that her beloved brother George might be the maniac responsible for several gruesome yet unsolved murders. Where do the nail scratches on his back come from? Why are there bloodstains on the white sweater that Wynne made for him? Strangely enough, the more convinced Wynne gets regarding her brother's guilt, the more her feelings grow intense and obsessive. The young girl even convinces herself that she must rescue George, as the rest of the world won't understand him. "I Start Counting" is a slowly unfolding, captivating and often uncomfortable film that is made even more excellent thanks to the wondrous use of music like the title song (although some fans of the genre might not like this), beautiful images of the South-East British countryside and great work from the ensemble cast. The thriller elements surprisingly go well with the coming-of-age theme. The serial killer plot is occasionally very creepy, whereas Wynne's extreme devotion for her brother is also quite disturbing but in a completely different way. "I Start Counting" absolutely is a unique film; what they call a real gem of a great but sadly forgotten cinematic era. It pleases me to see that the film nevertheless has a few devoted fans here on this site.

I saw this film when it was on General release, and was somewhat taken-a-back by the acting ability of its very young leading Lady. Jenny Agutter was superb in the role of Wynne, a teenager who thought her step brother to be involved in some killings, and left nothing about her character's thoughts to the imagination. "I start Counting" was, of course, very different from M/s. Agutter's later work; and, to my mind, the character had more punch than many of her later portrayals. Perhaps, only her portrayal of the eldest daughter in "The Railway Children" carried the same amount of convincing charm as her portrayal of Wynne in "I start Counting". For me, Jenny Agutter "shines" in this movie: the storyline is right for her, and she was the right person to play Wynne. I could gladly watch this movie over and over again.

For me this movie was quite a find. It appeared late at night on what was normally waste-of-time English-language cable station in Turkey. The syrupy opening theme song nearly made me turn it off, but it caught my attention because it featured underrated British actress Jenny Agutter, most famous for appearing in the superb Australian art-house film "Walkabout" and playing the female love interest in a smattering of more mainstream fare like "Logan's Run" and "American Werewolf in London". Because her international debut "Walkabout" was much more famous for it's incredible cinematography of the Australian outback than it's very understated acting and almost non-existent dialogue, Agutter would become much more renown for her incredible five-minute nude swimming scene than any thespian talent she might have displayed. Her subsequent international roles were thus somewhat limited (for example, even in the PG-rated "Logan's Run" she somehow managed to have a completely gratuitous full-frontal nude scene). Only older British viewers who remember her work as a child actress on obscure BBC television programs would have too much idea of her acting talent.

This movie would rectify that immensely if it ever finds a larger audience. Agutter (a couple years younger than she was in "Walkabout")plays a troubled pubescent girl in love with her older foster brother. When she begins to suspect that he is a serial killer terrorizing the local neighborhood she chillingly begins to cover up for him, but the truth turns out to be something quite different.

The movie manages to be both a tense thriller and a sensitive coming-of-age flick while deftly avoiding the excesses of either genre. It obviously takes place at a time when London was in full swing (which can be seen in the panty-flashing mini-skirts worn by the characters' slightly more experienced best friend), but the movie also remains somewhat provincial and very British, kind of an early version of a Mike Leigh film. This would make a good double-bill with "Deep End", another superb but sadly forgotten film of 60's era British youth. My only complaint is the music, which aside from a smattering of Jimi Hendrix, is absolutely wretched, especially compare to the music that was coming out of Britain at that time. Nevertheless, I would definitely recommend this one.

Though I can't remember it in detail, I do remember liking this film a lot and as a teenager going to bed scared, as well as having impure thoughts about Jenny Agutter, (again.) Very atmospheric, very English and very 60s, full of the kinds of faces you seemed to only get during that decade.

I don't know why it's hardly ever shown, but if someone were to air it occasionally, I'm sure it would gradually start to pick up a reputation as a bit of lost cult classic (a la the Wickerman.) I did find a fairly negative review in Time Out, but that probably says more about them than this film.

I saw this film for the one and only time on English television back in 1980.At the time I thought it was the best thriller film I had ever seen.Since then to my knowledge it has never been shown again over here (I stand to be corrected on this one !) and appears to have sank without trace.Agutter is excellent as the schoolgirl who thinks her foster brother(Bryan Marshall) may be the local sex murderer and the creepy atmosphere builds up carefully helped by the location work on the wide windy stretches of an English New Town which I believe is Bracknell,Berkshire where Sean Connery's equally disturbing film "The Offence" was shot a couple of years later.Photography ,editing and supporting cast all first class.This film deserves to be better known in the history of British film and indeed the horror/thriller genre and its continued omission in most of the weighty film guides on the market remains ,to me, the biggest mystery and injustice of them all.