A Judgment in Stone

A bit of a weird one this flick, a bit hard to find too, because it's a Ruth Rendall mystery. But this tale is filmed in a creepy way, it isn't your average thriller or frightening horror flick, it just get's you by the throat. First we noticed a girl with dyslexia being thrown away by society and her father. Sure, this flick has a message but you get it afterwards when the movie is over. When you're not "normal" and doesn't walk the line you will be torn apart. Nice to see too that they dare to speak about a new family were brother and sister, only by the law but have different mothers, fall in love. I liked this one a lot even that there isn't almost no blood. It's the atmosphere, you even start to get some feelings for the dislexia girl, it could happen in real life. If you ever see this flick in your local store, don't hesitate. And the good old cockney accent really did it for me.

Rita Tushingham stars as a dyslexic British maid, and formerly abused child who's a little too sensitive about not being able to read. This is NOT a common slasher film, by any long shot, as these types of films were in the 1970's and '80's. After seeing what she does in the kitchen, I've barely been able to hold a knife, or even think about similar scenes from horror films for months. As of this writing, I can't get that scene, or an equally gruesome one from "Parents," out of my mind...and neither will you. And worse, you may even sympathize with her!

Rita Tushingham plays a British woman who murders her father and has an even worse secret: she's illiterate! Oh no! What to do? She moves to America to become a housekeeper for a (rather dysfunctional?!) wealthy family. All is fine and dandy until she flubs up on watering the patriarch's beloved plants because she can't read the instructions he left for her while they were on vacay. This is mostly dull, but has nice touches like incestuous step-sibs, the housekeeper's hilarious whore-turned-religious-freak gal-pal, and a finale that's to die for. Tushingham is excellent as always and revels in the mousiness of her character.

I read the novel years ago and very much enjoyed it. I was looking forward to seeing this film adaptation but was very much disappointed. For a start, moving the action from the UK to America (though filmed in Canada) was a big mistake. For instance, how does an illiterate woman manage to apply for a passport and a visa? It just doesn't make sense. Also, I felt Rita Tushingham, although a good actress, was too sympathetic for the part of Eunice. The contrast between the upper-middle class snobbish Coverdales and the working class Eunice and Joan Smith was better portrayed in Rendell's novel. Giles, the nerdish stepson, was much more bland in this movie. All in all, a disappointment. Stick to the book.

"A Judgment in Stone", aka "The Housekeeper" perhaps isn't the greatest horror movie/thriller ever made, but it definitely is one of the most original, unique and unconventional films you'll ever see in your lifetime! Based on a novel nobody knew it existed, let alone read, the plot revolves around a timid and extremely introvert middle-class British lady - named Eunice - who never learned how to read and who takes care of her ailing but domineering father. When he obliges Eunice to go back to school to finally learn how to read, she's so terrified to relive her primary school traumas that she kills her father. At the advice of a friend, she applies for the job of family housekeeper in America. Eunice finds work in the home of a prominent doctor, his kind second wife and the teenage son and daughter they both have from a previous marriage. Everything goes well at first, but Eunice desperately must hide the fact she cannot read. When she befriends the nosy and hysterical bible-freak neighbor Joan, and come more under her influence, the situation dramatically escalates.

The strongest asset of "The Housekeeper" is undoubtedly its unpredictability. From sequences earlier in the film, we know that Eunice is capable of murdering, but it's nevertheless difficult to imagine she will go on another and far more intentional killing spree. I can guarantee, however, that the denouement is brutal and genuinely shocking, and it more than widely compensates for the admittedly rather boring and uneventful middle section (even though the uncanniness level is maintained throughout the entire film). Evidently, and this is a big weakness, you can't help wondering the whole time why Eunice simply doesn't confess to her employers that she's illiterate. What's the worst that could happen to her, really? Rita Tushingham, the actress playing Eunice, is stupendous, but Jackie Burroughs is possibly even more genius as the totally derailed Joan. Furthermore, the story touches upon certain delicate themes that were still very much taboo in the mid-80s, like romances between stepsiblings. Good film, very obscure, but worth tracking down.