Deadly Strangers

Good movie plots remain with me. This is a movie I'd seen as a child and am lucky to find it here. It's a plot I've never forgotten and has quite a twist at the end. The only actor I remembered was Simon Ward. The acting was fine and, like so many of the British movies I've seen, nothing is overdone. No unnecessary violence and things blowing up for the sake of a boom. They don't write enough movies like this one. Other moves like this one is Vanishing Act with Elliot Gould, Silent Partner with Elliot Gould, and Sudden Fury (a very little known Canadian movie which should not be confused with the idiotic action film of the same name).

If you're the kind of movie fan who hates predictable movies then this movie is for you.

Being a big fan of road movies, this rarity instantly appealed to me. It's a British production, a thriller which has enough twists, turns, tricks and red herrings to rival any recent blockbuster. By keeping the plot simple (it's a bit like a low-key, subtle version of THE HITCHER), the director allows us to focus on the characters in the film and get to know them as events unfold through plenty of down-to-earth dialogue. It's a simple way of grabbing the audience's attention, but you'd be surprised how many films can't even grasp this simple concept.

Every trick in the book is pulled out here to keep the pace flying along. There's plenty of action, car chases, some weird psychological flashbacks which only reveal their importance at the film's climax, drama, suspense, plus the expected violence and nudity required to make this a sleazy epic. And it's all British, too, which gives it a novelty value unlike any other film I've seen - as I've said before, a little bit of originality goes a long way.

Another plus is the high standard of acting on display here from the two leads. Both Simon Ward and Hayley Mills utterly convince us that they are the characters that they play, each with distinctive personalities and their own ways of dealing with situations. Ward is thoroughly charismatic and appealingly innocent as the young man who may or may not be a killer, while Mills bypasses the "screaming girl" factor so apparent in many horror films to become a fully-fleshed, believable person who proves to be resourceful and independent time and time again. American legend Sterling Hayden also pops up for a cameo as a quirky old chap who thinks that his luck's in with Mills - it isn't.

This is a film which had me gripped right until the very end. Only in the closing minutes is the killer's identity confirmed, so it has you guessing right up until then. All this and plenty of fun moments too, such as a pair of Hells Angels who get more than they bargained for when one of their bikes is run off the road and explodes! What makes this film work for me is that the film is firmly rooted in reality, making what happens all the more interesting and involving. All the characters come across as real, everyday folk and even the British weather is spot on. DEADLY STRANGERS is a good example of clever, intelligent film-making and of what can be achieved on a low budget. Outstanding.

DEADLY STRANGERS opens with the escape of a dangerous -unseen- maniac from a mental hospital. Said psycho now roams the countryside, leaving a trail of victims along the way.

Meanwhile, young Belle Adams (Hayley Mills) is hitching her way to the train station. After escaping a lecherous trucker, she hitches a ride with a normal-looking young man named Stephen (Simon Ward). As they drive on, we learn about his history, as well as Belle's tragic past.

Sort of a road trip / mystery / thriller film, it's complete with murder, voyeurism, bikers, road rage, and the lovely Ms. Mills in just about every scene! She's really quite good in this. And yes, she does don her birthday suit. Also, watch for Sterling Haydon in an important cameo appearance...

A melodramatic and exciting thriller, boasting a dead man's chest full of red herrings plus an excellent British cast ( and Sterling Hayden), this tale of mayhem will likely keep you guessing to the very end as the plot twists and turns with the very lovely and talented Hayley Mills and "Young Winston" star Simon Ward at their best.There is a bonus, too. What Roy Boulting gave us a teeny peek of in "The Family Way" during Miss Mills' bath scene is revealed in it's divine perfection as British Film Industry veteran Sidney Hayers gives us a bathtub scene of his own. The movie belongs to Hayley anyway so that was a nice gift. WOW!

A young woman (Hayley Mills) misses her train and is forced to hitchhike. After a misadventure with a horny truck driver who wants her to pay a "fare", she is picked up by a handsome but mysterious stranger (Simon Ward) who may just have escaped from an asylum for the criminally insane. This is a familiar role for Hayley Mills that she had basically performed several times before: the pretty dolly bird who meets a slimy creep that she is nevertheless somewhat sexually attracted to (except that her usual co-star Hywel Bennet is replaced here by Simon Ward). When she played this role back in "Twisted Nerve", however, she was still coming off her wholesome Disney image, and was appealing, but also pretty two-dimensional. In "Endless Night" she played a troubled heiress and had little more of a rounded character and performance. In this movie the back-story of her character, revealed in flashbacks where she is orphaned in a car accident and sent to live with a lecherous uncle, might make her even more troubled than the sinister young man who picks her up. (There is in fact a great twist at the end here that I don't want to reveal).

Ironically, Mills first played this "endangered innocent" role as a child actress way back even before Disney in 1959's "Tiger Bay" (where she plays a pre-pubescent girl who steals a gun and befriends a murderer). It took her this long, in what was basically to be her last film, to get back to the acting and fully developed roles in which she first started. It was revealed years later that Mills had been offered, and nearly accepted, the title role in Stanley Kubrick's "Lolita". And while that notorious role ruined the career (and perhaps life) of the actress who eventually took it (Sue Lyon), it might have actually been better for Mills than all the saccharine, cloying Disney movies she got typecast in.

This is pretty much Mills show all the way. Ward is good but pretty functional. It's generally well directed by journeyman director Sid Hayers ("Assault", "Circus of Horror", "Revenge"). Sterling Hayden shows up in a cameo as an eccentric old coot (and his character's harmless flirtations with Mills have some unintentional sexual tension given that in real life she had recently married a man about Hayden's age). And, oh yes, and for those of you whose minds are in the gutter (along with mine), Mills also has some nice nude scenes. Good luck finding this as it is undeservedly very obscure today, but it's definitely recommended.