Dominique | |
---|---|
Directed by | Michael Anderson |
Written by |
|
Based on | "What Beckoning Ghost" (1948 short story) by Harold Lawlor |
Produced by | Andrew Donally Milton Subotsky |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Ted Moore |
Edited by | Richard Best |
Music by | David Whitaker |
Production companies | Sword and Scorcery Productions Grand Prize Productions |
Distributed by | Scotia-Barber Distributors |
Release date |
|
Running time | 100 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Budget | $1.2 million [1] [2] |
Dominique (also released as Dominique Is Dead) is a 1979 British psychological horror film directed by Michael Anderson, and featuring Cliff Robertson, Jean Simmons, Simon Ward, Jenny Agutter and Ron Moody. [3] [4] Author Ronald Chetwynd-Hayes wrote a novelization of the movie, [5] which is based on the 1948 short story "What Beckoning Ghost", written by American author Harold Lawlor. [6] The movie concerns a wealthy businessman (Robertson) who is seemingly haunted by the ghost of his wife (Simmons), whom he apparently caused to commit suicide.
This is the final movie of actors Jack Warner and Leslie Dwyer.
David Ballard, a struggling American businessman in desperate need of money, devises a plan: using psychological manipulation, he can compel his rich English wife, Dominique, to commit suicide, thus enabling him to inherit her family's estate and assets. His plan seemingly works when Dominique's body is found hanging in her greenhouse, but David soon finds himself being haunted by what he believes is Dominique's vengeful ghost. His sanity weakens gradually as he finds himself unable to rid himself of his wife's spirit, until he finally falls to his death while trying to escape from her.
As a twist ending, the "ghost" is revealed to have been his half-sister, Ann, who had enlisted the help of the man she loves, Tony Calvert, who had come to work as the Ballards' chauffeur and ingratiated himself with Dominique before her death. Using her experience from a past career as an actress, Ann had employed elaborate special effects and makeup to fake Dominique's ghost, get rid of David and claim David's share of the family fortune for herself, while Tony, being the only person Dominique trusted, agreed to help her in return for his own sizable cut.
However, Tony then rejects Ann and plays her an audio recording that reveals that the real Dominique had actually been alive, and part of the plan, until they had killed her to avoid detection; the recording made it seem that Ann had concocted the entire plan without Tony's knowledge. Tony admits that he intends to keep the recording to enforce Ann's silence, and that he had always intended to take his share and leave her. Ann murders him with a revolver the couple had previously used as part of their deception, with the movie ending as Ann stands over Tony's corpse.
Filming started in England during September 1977 and lasted six weeks.
The movie was initially meant to be filmed in Canada, but this was changed after an offer was made for filming in England with a greater budget. [1]
Dominique was released initially in March 1979. After a very brief theatrical playing, it was distributed more widely by cable broadcastings.
Vinegar Syndrome released the movie on DVD and Blu-ray in 2019. [7]
Martyn Auty criticized the movie in the Monthly Film Bulletin as "heavy handed". [8] Pop Matters reviewed the movie in 2019, writing that it "won’t raise the hackles of anyone looking for deep scares, but it is an absorbing suspense-drama that will at least keep you in your seat, if not the edge of it". [7]
Crash is a novel by English author J. G. Ballard, first published in 1973 with cover designed by Bill Botten. It follows a group of car-crash fetishists who become sexually aroused by staging and participating in car accidents, inspired by the famous crashes of celebrities.
Hamlet is a 1948 British film adaptation of William Shakespeare's play of the same name, adapted and directed by and starring Laurence Olivier. Hamlet was Olivier's second film as director and the second of the three Shakespeare films that he directed. Hamlet was the first British film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. It is the first sound film of the play in English.
Jennifer Ann Agutter is an English actress. She began her career as a child actress in 1964, appearing in East of Sudan, Star!, and two adaptations of The Railway Children; the BBC's 1968 television serial and the 1970 film version. In 1971 she also starred in the critically acclaimed film Walkabout and the TV film The Snow Goose, for which she won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama.
Wes Craven's New Nightmare is a 1994 American meta supernatural horror film written and directed by Wes Craven, creator of 1984's A Nightmare on Elm Street. A standalone film and the seventh installment in the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, it is not part of the same continuity as previous films, instead portraying Freddy Krueger as a fictional movie villain who invades the real world and haunts the cast and crew involved in the making of the films about him. In the film, Freddy is depicted as closer to what Craven originally intended, being much more menacing and less comical, with an updated attire and appearance.
Scary Movie 2 is a 2001 American supernatural parody film directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans. It is the sequel to Scary Movie and the second film in the Scary Movie film series. The film stars Anna Faris, Regina Hall, Shawn Wayans and Marlon Wayans, as well as Tim Curry, Tori Spelling, Chris Elliott, Chris Masterson, Kathleen Robertson, David Cross and James Woods. The film is the last in the series to feature the involvement of stars Marlon and Shawn Wayans, and director Keenan. Marlon would eventually go on to produce a similar horror-themed parody, A Haunted House, and its sequel, both starring himself. In the latter film, Wayans pokes fun at the Scary Movie series' decline in quality after his family's departure.
A Shot in the Dark is a 1964 comedy film directed by Blake Edwards in Panavision. Produced as a standalone sequel to The Pink Panther, it is the second installment in the eponymous film series, with Peter Sellers reprising his role as Inspector Jacques Clouseau of the French Sûreté.
Ghosts of Mars is a 2001 American space Western action horror film written, directed and scored by John Carpenter. It was produced by Screen Gems and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. It stars Natasha Henstridge, Ice Cube, Jason Statham, Pam Grier, Clea DuVall and Joanna Cassidy. Set on a colonized Mars in the 22nd century, the film follows a squad of police officers and a convicted criminal who fight against the residents of a mining colony who have been possessed by the ghosts of the planet's original inhabitants.
Sabrina is a 1995 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Sydney Pollack from a screenplay by Barbara Benedek and David Rayfiel. It is a remake of Billy Wilder's 1954 film of the same name, which in turn was based upon the 1953 play Sabrina Fair.
Merrily We Live is a 1938 American comedy film directed by Norman Z. McLeod and written by Eddie Moran and Jack Jevne. It stars Constance Bennett and Brian Aherne and features Ann Dvorak, Bonita Granville, Billie Burke, Tom Brown, Alan Mowbray, Clarence Kolb, and Patsy Kelly. The film was produced by Hal Roach for Hal Roach Studios, and was distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Crash is a 1996 Canadian erotic thriller film written, produced and directed by David Cronenberg, based on J. G. Ballard's 1973 novel of the same name. Starring James Spader, Deborah Kara Unger, Elias Koteas, Holly Hunter and Rosanna Arquette, it follows a film producer who, after surviving a car crash, becomes involved with a group of symphorophiliacs who are aroused by car crashes and tries to rekindle his sexual relationship with his wife.
Damage is a 1992 romantic psychological drama film directed and produced by Louis Malle and starring Jeremy Irons, Juliette Binoche, Miranda Richardson, Rupert Graves, and Ian Bannen. Adapted by David Hare from the 1991 novel Damage by Josephine Hart, the film is about a British politician (Irons) who has a sexual relationship with his son's fiancée and becomes increasingly obsessed with her. Richardson was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and won a BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance as the aggrieved wife of the film's main character.
Ghostface is a fictional identity that is adopted by the primary antagonists of the Scream franchise. The figure was originally created by Kevin Williamson, and is primarily mute in person but voiced over the phone by Roger L. Jackson, regardless of who is behind the mask. The disguise has been adopted by various characters in the movies and in the third season of the television series.
A Man Could Get Killed is a 1966 American adventure comedy film directed by Ronald Neame and Cliff Owen, shot on various locations in Portugal and starring James Garner, Melina Mercouri, Sandra Dee, Anthony Franciosa, and Robert Coote. Filmed scenes with Jenny Agutter, then 14, did not appear in the final cut.
National Lampoon's Movie Madness is a 1982 American comedy film produced by National Lampoon as the second film from the magazine. The film was originally produced under the title National Lampoon Goes to the Movies; completed in 1981, the film was not released until 1982, and was reedited and retitled as Movie Madness.
Topper Returns is a 1941 American supernatural comedy thriller film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring Joan Blondell, Roland Young, Carole Landis and Billie Burke. The third and final installment in the initial series of supernatural comedy films inspired by the novels of Thorne Smith, it succeeds Topper (1937) and Topper Takes a Trip (1938).
When Eight Bells Toll is a 1971 action film directed by Étienne Périer and starring Anthony Hopkins, Jack Hawkins, Robert Morley, and Nathalie Delon. Set in Scotland, it is based upon Scottish author Alistair MacLean's 1965 novel of the same name. Producer Elliott Kastner planned to produce a string of realistic gritty espionage thrillers to rival the James Bond series, but the film's poor box office receipts ended his plans.
976-EVIL II is a 1992 American direct-to-video supernatural horror film directed by Jim Wynorski. The film is a sequel to the 1988 horror film 976-EVIL. It was referenced in Invasion of the Scream Queens (1992).
Diva is a 1981 French thriller film directed by Jean-Jacques Beineix, adapted from the novel Diva by Daniel Odier. It eschewed the realist mood of the 1970s French cinema and instead adopted a colourful, melodic style, later described as cinéma du look. The mixture of "film noir, opera and art-house styles" did not please the producers, but was more to the liking of the Canadian audience at the Toronto International Film Festival where it was screened and achieved a 'Critics' Choice' in 1981.
Cross Shot is a 1976 Italian poliziottesco film directed by Stelvio Massi.
Going Steady is a 1979 Israeli film. It is the second in the Lemon Popsicle film series.
{{cite magazine}}
: Cite magazine requires |magazine=
(help){{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires |journal=
(help)