Dominique (1980)

Dominique started off as a very interesting pseudo-thriller. Jean Simmons plays the title role, a woman who, in the beginning scenes, is being "gaslighted" by her husband, Cliff Robertson. Since she's naturally sweet and unassuming, and he's naturally unlikable, the beginning was very fun to watch. As it dragged on, the film became more of a cheap thriller than anything else. Jean is so tormented by her husband's tricks, she hangs herself, then comes back as a ghost to haunt him. I'm not spoiling anything; if you look the movie up online, that will be in the one sentence plot description.It isn't particularly scary, gimmick-y, mysterious, or interesting. There are so many other ghost stories and thrillers you can choose from, and I suggest you do so.

A man drives his wife Dominique to suicide so he can claim her inheritance, she returns from the grave to enact a richly deserved revenge.This British chiller is a film that clearly seems to have something of a bad reputation. I have to stand against the crowd here though because I personally find this flick somewhat entertaining and even thrilling in places. The story may be a little predictable and it may also require the audience to stretch their credibility at times. But, seriously, so what? Many films of this type have these types of issues. It may be no coincidence that its title resembles the French classic Les Diaboliques a little because Dominique is essentially a reworking of a few core ideas from that one but with a few different angles of its own. Its director is Michael Anderson who not long before had made the impressive sci-fi film Logan's Run. Also from that film was actress Jenny Agutter who has a small but important role in this one. There is a smattering of other familiar faces from British films too. But mainly this works as a spooky horror-thriller. It really is nowhere near as bad as it's made out to be.

I think Cliff Robertson certainly was one of our finest actors. He has a half dozen classics to his credit. He does fine here as the heavy, but the direction is so bad and the pacing so tiresome, it never gets off the mark. The story starts off well although it makes me wonder how he could count on his wife hanging herself. Still he mugs well and carries things along. The death knell is twofold. First of all, if we were to take the amount of time characters spend walking from one room to another or one part of the house to another, it would eat up about a third of the movie. Add to that, Robertson's character sitting up in bed in the blue light, looking confused, that might add another chunk. I agree with those that said a half hour shorter would have made it a pretty decent, though insignificant film. The biggest weakness is just a convoluted plot that, when all is said and done, leaves incredible questions. I'm not putting in spoilers, but when it ends, don't think too much. I can come up with ten what-ifs without raising a sweat. It would have been better if it had remained a ghost story.

A wealthy wife is convinced that his equally wealthy husband tries to drive her mad by scary voices and haunting portents at their country mansion. After her sudden death, she seems to return to haunt the husband.Predictable and fairly restricted all-star suspense shocker on the lines of "Les Diaboliques" with very occasional moments of "frisson".