mickeyrooneyselevatorshoes

Yeah, it's bad, but in a fun way. Music is so-so, in that way of British Invasion wannabes who never were. One of the catchiest songs, "Romeo Jones," curiously is not on the soundtrack LP. Fun scenes include Liz Fraser getting drunk from spiked gravy, Mike Sarne being a near-stalker, Grazina Frame as rich girl trying to escape overbearing aunt, John Leyton super excited that he was offered a job as a waiter at a summer camp and fantasizing about being a pop idol. A few scenes stick out due to the absolute weirdness or continuity. When the Lynne dancers are dancing on the beach to "Every Day's A Holiday," they turn to run away from the camera, and one girl's zipper on the back of her tight, blue capris is unzipped. Freddie and the Dreamers had a ball with this, a few members told me so personally! I think a few ad libs were left in. If bad 60s movies about popsters trying to win talent contests are your thing, especially in a summer vacation camp that looks gloomy and chilly, are your guilty pleasure, give this a whirl.

Might seem slow to get going but you get time to know the main character Eleanor, and what kind of lousy background she comes from. She is a lonely woman whose never had much of a life, and a mental issue is hinted at though we never find out what the "family skeleton" is. She joins an ESP master (Claire Bloom in fashionable outfits) and an anthropologist (Richard Johnson is perfect in the role) interested in hauntings in a large house rumored to be evil. Joining them is a relative of the owner, a college type who is more interested in girls and money than ghosts. Well played by Russ Tamblyn. Robert Wise directed this, he also did West Side Story. The darkness, the shadows, the nervousness of the characters, camera angles, all work perfectly to make the viewer wonder if they aren't just "seeing things." No blood or gore. No CGI. Who needs it with sets and direction like this. Cherubic faces on knobs, old oddball statues, wallpaper patterns that define pareidolia, and voices that could be anger or proselytizing, draw you in to an unexpected ending. Let's just say the skeptical frat boy gets the proof he never thought he'd get.

What can I say? The film claims to be about JM's life in the 1960s, but the main photo used in ads is a reenactment of one taken in the 1950s, one which Sophia Loren herself didn't care for. In one scene, if you make it that far, has a John Lennon drawing on the wall which would not be made for 1-2 years after JM died. It really does look, as someone else commented, as if the scenes were shot in the same garage with different curtains etc to make different rooms. There is not one likeable character here, but many people JM ran with in the mid 60s were bad apples anyway. One gets the impression that the "actors" were hired as favors and not because of ability or resemblance, and that the whole thing is an ego project. Watch with friends for a laugh-fest. One star because it's really ghastly, another star because it's perfect for an MST3K style treatment. Kidding aside. We don't think Jayne would care for this parody of her.