The Haunting of Julia

In London, while having breakfast with her parents Julia (Mia Farrow) and Magnus Lofting (Keir Dullea), the girl Kate (Sophie Ward) chokes with a fruit and dies. The grieving Julia has a breakdown and moves to an institution. When she is released, she leaves her husband and buys and moves to an apartment. However, she does not look for a psychiatrist as recommended by the doctor, and her friend Mark Berkeley (Tom Conti), who is an antique dealer, tries to help her. Julia has the feeling that Kate is watching her. Meanwhile, Magnus, who lives with her fortune, unsuccessfully wants that Julia returns to their house. When Julia meets Magnus' sister Lily Lofting (Jill Bennett), she asks her to not give her address to Magnus. Soon Lily asks Julia to have a séance at her home, and she allows. The medium, Mrs. Flood (Anna Wing), contacts a girl and is scary with the ghost. But Julia believes it is Kate and seeks out answers.

"Full Circle", a.k.a. "The Haunting of Julia", is an ambiguous ghost story developed in slow pace. The flawed plot has characters that vanish, like Lilly and Magnus (nobody misses and seeks him out?). The killing spree is ambiguous, and is not clear that the evil ghost of Olivia does exist or it is a vision of the disturbed Julia. Is Julia possessed by Olivia and commits the crime spree? Or is she disturbed and killing her acquaintances and herself? The performances are excellent, highlighting Mia Farrow, but the screenplay could be better. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Demônio com Cara de Anjo" ("Devil with Angel Face")

Mia Farrow almost totally controls this movie as the mother whose daughter has just died. She's also estranged from her strange husband (Keir Dullea), but forming a friendship with the nice Mark (Tom Conti). She moves into a new house but after a seance with Mark things start to get strange. Also people start getting bumped off and a mysterious story about a young boy being murdered years earlier.

The cast are uniformaly good and some will be known by British TV viewers of the seventies and eighties. Farrow is very good as the lead but I feel that Tom Conti is very underused as Mark. In all an interesting I'd never heard of before.

Julia Lofting (Mia Farrow) is struggling after a tragedy. Her daughter chocked to death. Her desperate intervention failed to save her. Her wealthy husband Magnus is unhelpful. She leaves him and buys her own posh London house. Mark Berkeley (Tom Conti) is her friend. She fears harassment from Magnus, but the house is actually haunted.

Mia Farrow is just spooky in her pixie cut. It's nine years after Rosemary. She has the same haunted frailty. I would like more ghost action and earlier. The girl doesn't appear until the end. As it stands, it's more a personal internal character study than a horror movie. It's atmospheric, but it's never scary. It is odd that the film didn't get its American release until years later. It's very 70's.

I am a very big fan of slow moving, atmospheric horror movies. In fact, "Full Circle" aka "The Haunting of Julia" is probably the movie that got me into these kind of movies. However, the truth is that many people out there go into horror movies expecting thrill-a-second horror and blood and guts everywhere. This movie is not like that at all. It is built completely on atmosphere, character development, and a slow building plot that eventually leads to a shocking and unexpected conclusion. This is the reason i love this movie. I think that atmosphere contributes so much in unnerving us and sending chills down our spines and that is what horror is all about, isn't it? I love the music, the characters, and just about everything else. If you are into films such as "Don't Look Now" and "Let's Scare Jessica to Death" you should check this one out if you can find it.

I tuned in a bit late, perhaps 15 minutes or so, but I could tell right off that I'd hit upon something worth watching. I highly reccomend this to fans of "Don't Look Now", one of the most frightening movies I've ever seen. "Full Circle" has much the same feel, and some of the same subject matter.

Others here have criticised the film's slow pace: I, for one, especially appreciate the Director's willingness to take time to build suspense and terror. I believe that silence is an important part of a horror movie (perhaps almost every kind of movie) and it's obvious that the Director shares my appreciation for what's NOT said.

I won't risk spoiling this movie in any way: I merely suggest that, should you get a chance to screen "Full Circel", you savor the opportunity.