Seance on a Wet Afternoon
Release date: 1964-06-19
Votes: 114
Genres: Crime, Thriller, Drama
Working-class British housewife Myra Savage reinvents herself as a medium, holding seances in the sitting room of her home with the hidden assistance of her under-employed, asthmatic husband, Billy. In an attempt to enhance her credibility as a psychic, Myra hatches an elaborate, ill-conceived plot to kidnap a wealthy couple's young daughter so that she can then help the police "find" the missing girl.
Reviews
John Chard
Because your weak, and you need me. Myra Savage is a struggling psychic, who along with her weak-willed husband, Billy, kidnap the young daughter of wealthy parents. The plan is to extort money from the fretting parents and then for Myra to help the parents find the child with her psychic ability, thus improving her standing in the psychic field. But as the story unfolds, Myra grows ever more close to the edge of insanity, could the still born death of the Savage's own child be the critical issue? Seance On A Wet Afternoon is something of a hidden/forgotten British treasure, not only because of the eerie atmospherics, but also because it contains a quite incredible acting performance from Kim Stanley as the troubled Myra Savage. Stanley was nominated for an Academy Award but lost out to Julie Andrews for Mary Poppins, I wonder just how many people even remember Stanley's film? Though chiefly marketed as a crime picture, this piece actually feels more like an offshoot of the horror genre, for it's a genuinely creepy picture that has unease lurking in every marvellous black and white corner. Boosted by an excellently understated turn from Richard Attenborough (also producer here) as Billy Savage, directed with exceptional skill from Bryan Forbes (Whistle Down the Wind), and with a plinking creepy score from maestro John Barry, this adaptation of Mark McShane's novel comes highly recommended for those that like a great psychological character study. Oh and of course for those that know brilliant acting when they see it! 8/10
Movie Recommendation
Until the End of the World1991-09-12In 1999, a woman's life is forever changed after she survives a car crash with two bank robbers, who enlist her help to take the money to a drop in Paris. On the way, she runs into another fugitive from the law — an American doctor on the run from the CIA. They want to confiscate his father's invention – a device which allows anyone to record their dreams and visions.More...
Bunny Lake Is Missing1965-10-03A woman reports that her young daughter is missing, but there seems to be no evidence that she ever existed.More...
Mamma Roma1962-09-22After years spent working as a prostitute in her Italian village, middle-aged Mamma Roma has saved enough money to buy herself a fruit stand so that she can have a respectable middle-class life and reestablish contact with the 16-year-old son she abandoned when he was an infant. But her former pimp threatens to expose her sordid past, and her troubled son seems destined to fall into a life of crime and violence.More...
The Naked Kiss1964-10-29A former prostitute works to create a new life for herself in a small town, but a shocking discovery could threaten everything.More...
The Blue Lamp1950-01-19P.C. George Dixon is a long-serving traditional copper who is due to retire shortly. He takes a new recruit under his aegis and introduces him to the easy-going night beat. Dixon is a classic ordinary hero but also anachronistic, unprepared and unable to answer the violence of the 1950s.More...
Bitter End of a Sweet Night1961-02-14An opportunistic department store clerk gets involved with three women and attempts to manipulate them so he can move up the social ladder.More...
Something of Mine1991-03-01A ring of devil worshipers bring forth a demon and let it loose at a campus Halloween spook show.More...
Undisputed2002-07-17Monroe Hutchens is the heavyweight champion of Sweetwater, a maximum security prison. He was convicted to a life sentence due to a passionate crime. Iceman Chambers is the heavyweight champion, who lost his title due to a rape conviction to ten years in Sweetwater. When these two giants collide in the same prison, they fight against each other disputing who is the real champion.More...
Day of the Dead1985-07-03As the world is overrun by zombies, scientists and military personnel in an underground Florida bunker must decide on how they should deal with the undead.More...
Dawn of the Dead1978-09-02During an ever-growing epidemic of zombies that have risen from the dead, two Philadelphia SWAT team members, a traffic reporter, and his television-executive girlfriend seek refuge in a secluded shopping mall.More...
GoodFellas1990-09-12The true story of Henry Hill, a half-Irish, half-Sicilian Brooklyn kid who is adopted by neighbourhood gangsters at an early age and climbs the ranks of a Mafia family under the guidance of Jimmy Conway.More...
Moana2016-10-13In Ancient Polynesia, when a terrible curse incurred by Maui reaches an impetuous Chieftain's daughter's island, she answers the Ocean's call to seek out the demigod to set things right.More...
Monkey Business1952-09-03Research chemist Barnaby Fulton works on a fountain of youth pill for a chemical company. One of the labs chimps gets loose in the laboratory and mixes chemicals, but then pours the mix into the water cooler. When trying one of his own samples, washed down with water from the cooler, Fulton begins to act just like a twenty-year-old and believes his potion is working. Soon his wife and boss are also behaving like children.More...
Smiles of a Summer Night1955-12-26Early in the 20th century, middle-aged lawyer Fredrik Egerman and his young wife, Anne, have still not consummated their marriage, while Fredrik's son finds himself increasingly attracted to his new stepmother. To make matters worse, Fredrik's old flame Desiree makes a public bet that she can seduce him at a romantic weekend retreat where four couples convene, swapping partners and pairing off in unexpected ways.More...
The Isle2000-04-22Mute Hee-Jin is working as a clerk in a fishing resort in the Korean wilderness; selling baits, food and occasionally her body to the fishing tourists. One day she falls in love with Hyun-Shik, who is on the run from the police, and rescues him with a fish hook when he tries to commit suicide.More...
White Hunter, Black Heart1990-05-16Renowned filmmaker John Wilson travels to Africa to direct a new movie, but constantly leaves to hunt elephants and other game, to the dismay of his cast and crew. He eventually becomes obsessed with hunting down and killing one specific elephant.More...
The Play House1921-10-26Upon waking from the dream of a theater peopled entirely by numerous Buster Keatons, a lowly stage hand causes havoc everywhere he works.More...
The Home2025-07-24A troubled man starts working at a retirement home and realizes its residents and caretakers harbor sinister secrets. As he investigates the building and its forbidden fourth floor, he starts to uncover connections to his own past and upbringing as a foster child.More...
Main Tera Hero2014-04-04Seenu loves Sunaina but they're chased by a stalking cop, an infatuated beauty and her mafia don dad - can Seenu's heroics work?More...
The Gauntlet1977-12-17Phoenix cop Ben Shockley is well on his way to becoming a derelict when he is assigned to transport a witness from Las Vegas. The witness turns out to be a belligerent prostitute with mob ties—and incriminating information regarding a high-ranking official.More...
Similar Movies
Wandering
2022-05-13In a park on a rainy evening, a 19-year-old university student, Fumi, offers an umbrella to a soaking wet 10-year-old girl, Sarasa. Realizing her reluctance to go home, Fumi lets her stay in his place, where she spends the next two months in peace.9 Songs
2004-07-16Matt, a young glaciologist, soars across the vast, silent, icebound immensities of the South Pole as he recalls his love affair with Lisa. They meet at a mobbed rock concert in a vast music hall - London's Brixton Academy. They are in bed at night's end. Together, over a period of several months, they pursue a mutual sexual passion whose inevitable stages unfold in counterpoint to nine live-concert songs.Apocalypse Now
1979-05-19At the height of the Vietnam war, Captain Benjamin Willard is sent on a dangerous mission that, officially, "does not exist, nor will it ever exist." His goal is to locate - and eliminate - a mysterious Green Beret Colonel named Walter Kurtz, who has been leading his personal army on illegal guerrilla missions into enemy territory.War of the Worlds
2005-06-28Ray Ferrier is a divorced dockworker and less-than-perfect father. Soon after his ex-wife and her new husband drop off his teenage son and young daughter for a rare weekend visit, a strange and powerful lightning storm touches down.Blade Runner
1982-06-25In the smog-choked dystopian Los Angeles of 2019, blade runner Rick Deckard is called out of retirement to terminate a quartet of replicants who have escaped to Earth seeking their creator for a way to extend their short life spans.The Elementary Partic...
2006-02-10Based on Michel Houellebecq's controversial novel, Atomised (aka The Elementary Particles) focuses on Michael and Bruno, two very different half-brothers and their disturbed sexuality. After a chaotic childhood with a hippie mother only caring for her affairs, Michael, a molecular biologist, is more interested in genes than women, while Bruno is obsessed with his sexual desires, but mostly finds his satisfaction with prostitutes. But Bruno's life changes when he gets to know the experienced Christiane. In the meantime, Michael meets Annabelle, the love of his youth, again.Anatomy of a Murder
1959-07-01Semi-retired Michigan lawyer Paul Biegler takes the case of Army Lt. Manion, who murdered a local innkeeper after his wife claimed that he raped her. Over the course of an extensive trial, Biegler parries with District Attorney Lodwick and out-of-town prosecutor Claude Dancer to set his client free, but his case rests on the victim's mysterious business partner, who's hiding a dark secret.The Big Lebowski
1998-03-06Jeffrey 'The Dude' Lebowski, a Los Angeles slacker who only wants to bowl and drink White Russians, is mistaken for another Jeffrey Lebowski, a wheelchair-bound millionaire, and finds himself dragged into a strange series of events involving nihilists, adult film producers, ferrets, errant toes, and large sums of money.Match Point
2005-10-26Chris, a former tennis pro, takes a job as an instructor and befriends his wealthy young student, Tom. After being introduced to his family, Chris is soon engaged to Tom's sister, Chloe. Despite the professional and financial advantages that this relationship affords him, Chris becomes obsessed with Tom's fiancee, American actress Nola.O Brother, Where Art ...
2000-08-30In the deep south during the 1930s, three escaped convicts search for hidden treasure while a relentless lawman pursues them.Freaks
1932-01-01A circus' beautiful trapeze artist agrees to marry the leader of side-show performers, but his deformed friends discover she is only marrying him for his inheritance.Donnie Darko
2001-01-19After narrowly escaping a bizarre accident, a troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a large bunny rabbit that manipulates him to commit a series of crimes.All Quiet on the West...
1930-04-29When a group of idealistic young men join the German Army during the Great War, they are assigned to the Western Front, where their patriotism is destroyed by the harsh realities of combat.Wings of Desire
1987-09-23Two angels, Damiel and Cassiel, glide through the streets of Berlin, observing the bustling population, providing invisible rays of hope to the distressed but never interacting with them. When Damiel falls in love with lonely trapeze artist Marion, the angel longs to experience life in the physical world, and finds — with some words of wisdom from actor Peter Falk — that it might be possible for him to take human form.Crouching Tiger, Hidd...
2000-07-06Two warriors in pursuit of a stolen sword and a notorious fugitive are led to an impetuous, physically-skilled, teenage nobleman's daughter, who is at a crossroads in her life.The 400 Blows
1959-06-03For young Parisian boy Antoine Doinel, life is one difficult situation after another. Surrounded by inconsiderate adults, including his neglectful parents, Antoine spends his days with his best friend, Rene, trying to plan for a better life. When one of their schemes goes awry, Antoine ends up in trouble with the law, leading to even more conflicts with unsympathetic authority figures.The Track
1970-05-04A successful doctor comes into conflict with his friends and family and is slowly driven towards suicide.Wind Over the City
1996-11-16In a small, poor town, a young worker falls in love with an actress from a traveling theater troupe and tries to keep her close, dreaming and working hard to rebuild a new town while the troupe increasingly faces decline and the end of its run.How Old Are You
2014-05-16A married woman, who has set aside her dreams for the sake of her husband and daughter, rediscovers her true self and becomes an achiever.28 Days Later
2002-10-31Twenty-eight days after a killer virus was accidentally unleashed from a British research facility, a small group of London survivors are caught in a desperate struggle to protect themselves from the infected. Carried by animals and humans, the virus turns those it infects into homicidal maniacs -- and it's absolutely impossible to contain.