What the Peeper Saw (1973)

"What the Peeper Saw" is much more of a psychological drama than a horror film, or even a thriller. It focuses heavily on the antagonistic relationship between Elise (Britt Ekland), the new wife of an older man, successful author Paul (Hardy Kruger), and her stepson Marcus (Mark Lester of "Oliver!" fame). They initially seem to get along all right, but Elise becomes increasingly frustrated by this enigmatic, aloof kid, who acts much older than his actual age. She comes to suspect that he had murdered his biological mother Sarah (Colette Giacobine), and now has similar designs on her.As directed by James Kelley ("The Beast in the Cellar"), you can't ever expect a lot of tension in this film. That doesn't seem to be its primary concern. It DOES have a sexual charge about it, however. Hell, the uncut version opens with a scene of nudity. The evolving relationship between our heroine and bratty antagonist does play up this quality. (Still, it must be noted that you don't ever see the kid indulge in the act of peeping on screen.) The single most memorable sequence involves the two main characters exchanging clothes for information, as Elise strips in front of Marcus in order to get some truths out of him.And this kid is one truly cagey character. One thing you can expect is that the scenario turns into one of "he said, she said", and Elise is understandably flustered that she can get almost nobody to believe her about this bad seed.Ekland is no great shakes as a dramatic actress, but she just looks so damn fine that some viewers probably won't mind very much. (She DOES give the proceedings an earnest effort.) Kruger is fine as the dad, but the film belongs to young Lester, who's quite amusing throughout. Lilli Palmer and Harry Andrews are excellent in special guest appearances as a psychiatrist and school headmaster.The out of nowhere violent ending is downright hilarious, even if it's probably not intended to be that way.The Italian version is credited to Andrea Bianchi ("Strip Nude for Your Killer", "Burial Ground").Six out of 10.

I think it is not entirely a thrilling movie. The actors were not right especially Lester. He was chosen as Oliver in 'Oliver!' because he got the right face which deliver the character nicely. But in this movie I think, he is not 'evil' that his innocent-look doesn't help him at all in being a psychopath.What The Peeper Saw is pretty confusing towards the end of the film. The scene when Elise and Marcus in the bed is just bizarre and almost gross or maybe unnecessary. I think the movie will work out just fine if it focus on Marcus' mysterious act in personal way and acting innocent to fool everybody rather than showing more skin, in that way the revelation might be more believable and favorable to his looks - innocent but evil.

This is one of Britt Eckland's earlier films and was largely ignored on release in the UK, as it was support film for 'Don't Look Back', with Donald Sutherland.The plot is convoluted and somewhat difficult to follow.Ther is in the uncut version a considerable amount of nudity, and at the time a certain controversy was a stirred up. Britt Eckland is often naked when the 12 yr old boy is present,on shot, and in one scene, the boy sits in a chair and makes her perform a full strip in front of him, her genital region only obscured by the boy's head. For nude rear scenes, a body-double was used for Britt Eckland's character, as was often the case with Eckland.

This underrated '70's psycho-thriller is aided by a strong cast, which includes Mark Lester(of OLIVER! fame) as the disturbed youngster, Britt Ekland as the terrified stepmother, Hardy Kruger as the boy's well-meaning, but clueless father, and Lilli Palmer as a seemingly level-headed psychologist. Admittedly, it's little more than THE BAD SEED with a sex change and a few kinky, voyeuristic sequences thrown in for good measure, but the wonderful cast has done wonders with their roles, particularly Lester who gives a startlingly mature and downright chilling performance as the evil child. After seeing him go at it as the little stepson from Hell, it's hard to believe that this is the same little boy who captured our hearts in the award-winning musical "OLIVER!". It takes a good actor to play two wildly different roles so convincingly, and that's Lester. After seeing him in these two films alone, I'm convinced he's one of the finest child actors of all time! After doing some research, I've discovered that the magnificent Lester has retired from show business and is now an osteopath. The medical profession's gain is our loss.