Two old army 'friends' arrive at the home of a young couple. The husband (James Woods--in his first film) doesn't seem happy to see them. Later, you SLOWLY find out why--he testified against them in a trial during the Vietnam War, as the two had participated in a rape and murder of an innocent woman. Normally, you'd think that he'd throw them out or call the police...but he doesn't.
If I didn't see on IMDb and in the film's credits, I would have no idea that this movie was directed by the great Elia Kazan (of "On the Waterfront" fame). That's because the film looks so amateurish in many ways--with blurry and sloppy cinematography. It also only has fair acting--as if the folks really were all rookies (which, in fact, they were). How far had the career of Kazan fallen that he ended up doing a film like this?! And, in my summary I mentioned eracehead's review--and I think they summed it up nicely when they mentioned the amateurish look and the fact that it took so darned long for the film to get moving. All in all, most of the emotional impact was lost by the time the big rape scene (which was VERY telegraphed--such as showing the woman topless while dressing early in the film and the fact that the men had been involved in the prior rape) occurred. I mention the rape scene, as I know many viewers DON'T want to see this sort of thing (too many memories for many victims, for example). All in all, an interesting idea that simply wasn't handled well.
If I didn't see on IMDb and in the film's credits, I would have no idea that this movie was directed by the great Elia Kazan (of "On the Waterfront" fame). That's because the film looks so amateurish in many ways--with blurry and sloppy cinematography. It also only has fair acting--as if the folks really were all rookies (which, in fact, they were). How far had the career of Kazan fallen that he ended up doing a film like this?! And, in my summary I mentioned eracehead's review--and I think they summed it up nicely when they mentioned the amateurish look and the fact that it took so darned long for the film to get moving. All in all, most of the emotional impact was lost by the time the big rape scene (which was VERY telegraphed--such as showing the woman topless while dressing early in the film and the fact that the men had been involved in the prior rape) occurred. I mention the rape scene, as I know many viewers DON'T want to see this sort of thing (too many memories for many victims, for example). All in all, an interesting idea that simply wasn't handled well.