Itinerantdaughter's Blog

Is it weird that I want to see this “psychothriller porno?”
Jonas Middleton

 
THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS
1976, 91 min, 35mm
“A particularly deviant homage to Fellini, Ken Russell, Roger Vadim, and about a dozen other European directors, all served up in the context of a genuinely creepy horror film.” –Nathaniel Thompson, MONDO DIGITAL
Middleton’s disturbing exploration of an unhappily married woman’s fascination with a mysterious mirror in her mansion’s attic is the adult film genre’s sole psychological horror film. While the title implies a porno variant of Lewis Carroll’s classic story of Alice venturing into Wonderland, Middleton instead weaves a tale of incest, child abuse, and mental anguish, with the visual style and storytelling of a Gothic horror tale set in a sprawling, shadowy family estate. Catherine Burgess stars as Catherine, a pillar of high society whose impossibly perfect facade conceals an unhealthy obsession with an evil entity haunting her home, which takes on the persona of her late father. As her life begins to crumble around her, she is offered one chance to reunite with dear dead dad…for a price…. Expertly photographed by future Hollywood cinematographer João Fernandes (‘Harry Flecks’), boasting a cast of some of the best actors in the New York adult film scene of the mid-70s (Jamie Gillis, Terri Hall, Roger Caine, Kim Pope, Nancy Dare, Jeffrey Hurst, Bobby Astyr), and accented by a mesmerizing score courtesy of Arlon Ober and future FRIDAY THE 13TH composer Harry Manfredini, THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS is a horrific gem waiting to be rediscovered by contemporary audiences.

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