''A Reflection of Fear'' is a 1972 American horror

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...

directed by William A. Fraker with a screenplay by Edward Hume and

Lewis John Carlino Lewis John Carlino (January 1, 1932 – June 17, 2020) was an American screenwriter and director. His career spanned five decades and included such works as '' The Fox'', '' The Brotherhood'', '' The Mechanic'', '' The Sailor Who Fell from Grace ...

and starring

Sondra Locke Sandra Louise Anderson (née Smith; May 28, 1944 – November 3, 2018), professionally known as Sondra Locke, was an American actress and director. An alumna of Middle Tennessee State University, Locke broke into regional show business with ass ...

, Robert Shaw,

Mary Ure Eileen Mary Ure (18 February 1933 – 3 April 1975) was a British actress. She was the second Scottish-born actress (after Deborah Kerr) to be nominated for an Academy Award, for her role in the 1960 film '' Sons and Lovers''. Early life Born i ...

Signe Hasso Signe Eleonora Cecilia Hasso ( Larsson; 15 August 1915 – 7 June 2002) was a Swedish actress. Early life Hasso was born in the Kungsholmen parish of Stockholm in 1915. Her father and grandfather died when she was four, and her mother, gran ...

, Gordon Devol and

Sally Kellerman Sally Clare Kellerman (June 2, 1937 – February 24, 2022) was an American actress whose acting career spanned 60 years. Her role as List of M*A*S*H characters#Margaret Houlihan, Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan in Robert Altman's film ''M*A*S ...

. It is based on the novel '' Go to Thy Deathbed'' by Stanton Forbes. The film spent a long time on the shelf. Principal photography was completed in the early part of 1971, but its premiere was not until late 1972 and its general release was not until the winter of 1973. Lead actress Locke was nearly twice the age of her character. Although Ure played Locke's mother, she was in fact only eleven years older than Locke.

Plot

The film is set in an alienated mansion in

Eastern Canada Eastern Canada (, also the Eastern provinces, Canadian East or the East) is generally considered to be the region of Canada south of Hudson Bay/ Hudson Strait and east of Manitoba, consisting of the following provinces (from east to west): Newf ...

that houses Marguerite, 15, the main protagonist, her mother Katherine and her maternal grandmother, Julia. Marguerite suffers from what appears to be

paranoia Paranoia is an instinct or thought process that is believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety, suspicion, or fear, often to the point of delusion and irrationality. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of co ...

as is apparent when she is shown talking to her dolls, especially one named Aaron or an

amoeba An amoeba (; less commonly spelled ameba or amœba; : amoebas (less commonly, amebas) or amoebae (amebae) ), often called an amoeboid, is a type of Cell (biology), cell or unicellular organism with the ability to alter its shape, primarily by ...

collected from a pond, or painting unsettling pictures in seclusion. She also takes daily shots of what she believes is

insulin Insulin (, from Latin ''insula'', 'island') is a peptide hormone produced by beta cells of the pancreatic islets encoded in humans by the insulin (''INS)'' gene. It is the main Anabolism, anabolic hormone of the body. It regulates the metabol ...

, although the labels have been removed. Out of the blue, she expresses her yearning to connect with her father, Michael, a writer, who was estranged from the family for a decade and is now in a relationship with a woman named Anne. Katherine and Julia take issue with Marguerite's desire, but Michael, on the pretext of obtaining a

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the M ...

from Katherine, arrives at the hamlet with Anne and feels the need to fortify his relationship with his daughter. In time, Marguerite's affection for her father turns inordinate and her sense of insecurity escalates as she is seen spying on the members of the household through crevices. "Aaron" murders Katherine in her bed with the aid of a wooden pole and also kills Julia. Following these incidents, Marguerite is comforted by her father who arranges for an outing to a local beach for Marguerite, Anne and himself. It is evident to Anne that the father-daughter relationship between Michael and Marguerite is excessive as is revealed by their immoderate physical contact and Michael's doting on her, even disregarding Anne who walks away dejectedly to be met with a knowing look from Hector, the young man at the inn. After the picnic, Anne confronts Michael about his questionable behavior towards his daughter, following which they attempt to make love. Marguerite is shown masturbating in her room, crying out for her father when she approaches her

climax Climax may refer to: Language arts * Climax (narrative), the point of highest tension in a narrative work * Climax (rhetoric), a figure of speech that lists items in order of importance Biology * Climax community, a biological community th ...

. The couple can hear this and it deeply disturbs Anne, who tells Michael they are all sick and leaves the house. As she is traveling to the inn, someone in a raincoat walks in front of her car and calls out her name. She believes this to be Hector and stops on the side of the road to speak to him. She falls down a hill and is then attacked by a hooded assailant, but is rendered safe by an unknown figure. She returns to the house and apologizes to Michael for leaving. The next day, Hector takes Marguerite out on his boat and gives her beer before he attempts to seduce her. Marguerite is clearly anxious, but allows him to touch her as the screen fades to black. In the next scene Hector's boat has mysteriously spiraled out of control dashing on the rocky shore and killing him. Marguerite survives and is taken away from the scene of the accident by medical personnel. Michael and Anne are shown taking her home and on the way Michael tells Marguerite that he has made a call to Boston. That night, Marguerite seems to know that the call to Boston means she will be "taken away" and Michael confirms this to her. She blames Aaron for everything and asks permission to show Michael how he has hurt them all, which he allows. Michael and Anne hear sounds of breaking glass upstairs; when Michael goes up to investigate, a hooded figure dressed in black attacks him. He repels the attack and the assailant runs from him. As the attacker tries to escape through the crawl spaces of the home, it revealed to be Marguerite in the personality of Aaron, who repeatedly assaults Michael as he continues the pursuit. At last she stops attacking him and retreats, collapsing in a corner, unmasking herself and sobbing. As he comes toward her with a troubled expression, we hear a recording of the Boston call he made to the hospital where Marguerite was delivered; he asks for information about a baby girl born to Katherine Sterling 16 years ago, but the records department informs him that Katherine had delivered not a girl but a boy.

Cast

as Marguerite * Robert Shaw as Michael *

as Anne *

as Katherine *

as Julia * Gordon Devol as Hector * Gordon Anderson as Aaron (voice only) *

Mitchell Ryan Mitchell Ryan (January 11, 1934 – March 4, 2022) was an American actor. His six decades of television credits, he is best known for playing Burke Devlin in the 1960s gothic subculture, gothic soap opera ''Dark Shadows'', and later for his co- ...

as Inspector McKenna * Victoria Risk as Peggy * Leonard Crofoot as Aaron * Michael St. Clair as Kevin *

Liam Dunn Liam Dunn (November 12, 1916 – April 11, 1976) was an American character actor. Life and career The New Jersey native's early career was spent on television in series such as ''Bonanza'', '' Room 222'', '' Alias Smith and Jones'', '' Mannix ...

as the Coroner * Michelle Marvin as the Nurse * Michele Montau as Madame Caraquet

Reception

Roger Greenspun Roger Greenspun (December 16, 1929 – June 18, 2017) was an American journalist and film critic, best known for his work with ''The New York Times'' in which he reviewed near 400 films, particularly in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and for '' ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' stated that "Sondra Locke has a virtuoso role, and I guess she is impressive, and Sally Kellerman is downright good. But ''"A Reflection of Fear"'' has been so ponderously paced and fatally overdecorated that performances can't count for much." In his review on

DVD Talk DVD Talk is a home video news and review website launched in 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman. History Kleinman founded the site in January 1999 in Beaverton, Oregon. Besides news and reviews, it features information on hidden DVD features known as ...

, Paul Mavis writes, "there's no getting around the fact that much of ''A Reflection of Fear'' flat-out doesn't make sense. And that's okay up to a certain point, because the main story arc still comes through fairly clearly, and the scares and atmosphere help make up for the film's other shortcomings." ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

'' lauded Locke's delivery of her character, saying, "Locke is very effective in her psychotic role, giving the story an eerie quality that is otherwise lacking."

Notes

References

External links