A Reflection of Fear

Sondra Locke stars in this obscure gem as Marguerite, an odd, but very intellectual teenage girl who is kept isolated by her vindictive mother and grandmother. When her father comes to visit with his new fiancée, a perverted love triangle develops with Marguerite as the other woman.

Directed by famed cinematographer William A. Fraker, this is a solid psychological horror film with an ending that took me by surprise and adds a whole new layer to everything seen prior. The relationship between Marguerite and her dad, played by Robert Shaw, is quite uncomfortable, especially when he does nothing to discourage her attempts to court him right in front of his fiancée. Marguerite, clearly unhinged from being raised by her man-hating mother, also has hateful conversations with one of her dolls, believing it to be a real person. This, along with Marguerite's fears of being left in her hell, of her father abandoning her again, eventually leads to a murder mystery.

There's strong acting across the board, especially from Locke, who I just saw recently in a similarly off-kilter role in "The Shadow of Chikara". She definitely had a knack for playing creepy. As for the aforementioned ending, it's definitely a stunner. I can think of at least two later slashers that may have been inspired by it.

The film was apparently edited by the studio for no apparent reason, and this shows in the latter half, as scenes seem to end before they've really even begun. It can be a little confusing, and one hopes that the cut bits will be restored some day.

A beautiful but strange teenage girl is kept isolated by her mother and grandmother. Her long absent father arrives with a new fiancé in tow, and asks for a divorce. It's not long before all sorts of slightly perverted and typically violent seventies shenanigans kick off!

One of the oddest early seventies psycho-thrillers... as Marguerite, Locke is all bug eyes, long hair and mini-dresses as the disturbed teenager, wafting around, talking to a seemingly imagined friend and enduring alarming mood swings. Hasso and Ure (in her last film) are given rather thankless roles as her sinister guardians (and given the apparently Canadian setting - references to Charlottetown, Georgetown - there's no particular explanation for Marguerite having a Swedish grandmother and an Anglo-American mother... and why is the gardener British?). Robert Shaw was a fine actor (and he was married to Ure at the time), but here seems to sleepwalk throughout the movie, despite the slightly incestuous nature of his character, and Kellerman was a curious and strange choice for the 'straight' role of Anne, especially if you consider her other more wacky roles of this period (M*A*S*H, SLITHER, LAST OF THE RED HOT LOVERS and BREWSTER McCLOUD).

In keeping with a movie-making trend of the period, much is made of Locke's pubescent sexuality (see also BABY LOVE, TWINKY, Sally Tomsett's character in STRAW DOGS), and even with the apparent editing, the murder of at least one character has a grainy, improvised and rather nasty look to it.

Ultimately it doesn't really work, but it's still a fascinating and spooky failure with a striking cast and captivating central performance, all of which leaves it lingering long after the final credits fade.

A Reflection In Fear tells the story of a wealthy man (Robert Shaw), returning home for the first time in 15 years to see his daughter and to divorce his ex wife so he can marry his fiancé He's devastated to learn his daughter is treated like a prisoner on the estate, locked away from society by a vindictive wife (Mary Ure) and mother-in-law (Signe Hasso). Marguerite lives in a fantasy world, with imaginary friends named Aaron who seems to come real and gets very jealous of Marguerite.

I must say I watched this a while back and I was pleasantly surprised, it was a really interesting watch and I can see that this being from the early 70's has influenced many later slashers such as "Sleepaway Camp" and "Unhinged" I'd like to go into greater detail about this "debt" but doing so would ruin the surprise ending.

Sondra Locke who plays the daughter Marguerite gave a mesmerising performance She looks so fragile and vulnerable in her Alice in Wonderland dresses, she really steals the scenes from the other cast members. Robert Shaw's performance is restrained but it's because his character is supposed to be oblivious to his daughter's sexual advances. He's still the best male actor in the cast and his larger than life qualities shine through. Mary Ure, Shaw's real wife at the time, has little dialogue but is able to convey evil and hatred with just a glance. Sally Kellerman also gives a strong performance as Anne, a woman who realises her future is crumbling before her eyes.

All in all Reflection may be a forgotten gem, but I really liked it and has the presence of a strong cast and a strong story line, I would definitely recommend tracking this down.

The very least you can say about "A Reflection of Fear" is that it is a moody and atmospheric thriller! The story might feel familiar (especially when you watch a lot of obscure cult/horror movies) and somewhat predictable, but the tone of the film remains unsettling throughout thanks to the slow pacing and extremely integer acting performances. However, what this movie clearly suffers from the most are all the oppressed controversial and unethical themes that were supposed to be processed into the script but then abruptly cut in order to obtain a PG rating. Always a shame when that happens… Marguerite Sterling is an isolated and quite eccentric teenage girl that lives with her mother and grandmother in a remote land house. She has long and embittered conversations with a doll named Aaron and gets ecstatic when she finds out that her estranged father Michael is coming to visit. Officially he's coming to ask his ex- wife for a divorce, so that he can marry with his new fiancée Anne that he brought along, but when he notices how socially incapable his daughter Marguerite is, he wants to stay. And then a mysterious killer dressed in black visits the premises… Like I said already, it's a shame about the (not-so-) subtly camouflaged taboo themes. The most disturbing yet simultaneously powerful sequences in "A Reflection of Fear" are those in which young Marguerite tenderly embraces and kisses her daddy while his new fiancée jealously observes. The film is kind of reminiscent in atmosphere and events to a handful of great classics, including "Psycho" and "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane", but director William A. Fraker nevertheless succeeds in giving it an own style and personality. Fraker primarily built his career as an eminent cinematographer and that he clearly demonstrates in several beautiful shots and camera compositions. With her rather odd facial structure and pale skin, Sondra Locke is ideally cast as the naturally uncanny Marguerite, but also Robert Shaw is exquisite as Michael. Shaw usually depicts robust and macho characters, like in "Jaws" for example, but here he impresses as the calm father figure. In fact, literally everyone in the cast – including supportive characters like the fiancée and even the investigating police detective – behaves like he/she is under the constant influence of Xanax or any other tranquilizing medicine! They all talk slowly and practically nothing seems to upset them, not even double murder. The integer performances give an extra dimension of creepy to already uncanny – but flawed – thriller.

Weird! This is one of the most bizarre horror flicks I've ever seen. But weird can be good, and in this case, it's definitely good! The beautiful and sexy Sondra Locke is at her very best as the tormented teen. Mary Ure and Signe Hasso are appropriately sinister as Locke's overprotective mother and grandmother. Robert Shaw is the disturbed young girl's estranged father who returns home to announce he's going to marry lovely Sally Kellerman. Naturally, several strange and dastardly deeds occur before this event can take place. The film is by all means an effective suspense story(all right, so it borrowed here and there from PSYCHO), but does have its shortcomings. The movie was very severely cut to avoid an R rating and slide by with a PG. Bad editing makes it all too obvious where the missing footage should be. But, it's still a worthwhile thriller with genuine scares and great acting.