What the Peeper Saw

1973 "What he saw is what he did."
What the Peeper Saw
5.8| 1h29m| R| en| More Info
Released: 18 May 1973 Released
Producted By: Corona Filmproduktion
Country: United Kingdom
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Synopsis

A wealthy author's second wife begins to suspect that her 12-year old stepson may have murdered his mother, who mysteriously died in a bathtub accident.

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Danny Blankenship "What the Peeper Saw" is an okay erotic B suspense movie type that's filled with drama and a past that haunts the central character. And the movie is spiced up okay with some sexy skin scenes from model Britt Ekland. The film has a plot that involves A beautiful woman(Britt Ekland)who's married and her husband has a little boy from his previous marriage and her little innocent looking stepson(Mark Lester)supposedly murdered his mother.All of a sudden signs are seen that this little boy is crazy and may murder again as strange things start to happen yet after some bonding and trust is made the film takes an unexpected twist at the end as what comes around goes around karma!
Scott LeBrun "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.
HumanoidOfFlesh Twelve year old Marcus is a pure bad seed.The boy has the history of animal abuse,sexual perversion and possibly murder.His mother died mysteriously during so-called tragic accident.Marcus is a manipulative and cruel boy.His rich father Paul marries Elise played by Britt Ekland.Marcus becomes obsessed with her and tragic occurrences follow."Night Child" aka "What the Peeper Saw" is an unsettling psychological thriller with few controversial set-pieces including the scenes where Elise strips in front of Marcus,shots of Marcus caressing Elise's breasts and finally short bed scene between Elise and Marcus.The acting is decent and Britt Ekland is truly one of the most beautiful women ever seen on screen.Be sure to track down an uncut version!
lost-in-limbo This film had been on my "to watch-list" for quite a while now and re-watching it again cemented that I had only watched the cut version; "What the Peeper Saw" and not the uncut take "Night Child". There's probably 5-10 minutes of extra footage and being a little more explicit (in its nudity and risqué developments) like the opening intro. Elise has just married an English author and has moved in with him at his villa in Spain, but soon his twelve year old son Marcus (her step-son) arrives on the scene. Something about him just makes her nervous, as his quite smart, but seamlessly a lonely figure and his father believes it has to do with the death of his mother two years ago. However Elise begins have doubts about Marcus intentions, as he goes about trying to exploit and feed upon that paranoia to cause friction between Elisa her husband. Similar in tone to the disturbing erotic thriller "The Sailor who fell from Grace with the Sea", the 70's multi-European production "Night Child" is a luridly brooding and audaciously voyeuristic psychological drama in the mould of those monstrous, but intellectual children who get enjoyment out of toying around with those who are vulnerable and manipulating things to their own liking. It's strange seeing Mark Lester (of "Oliver" fame) in that type of role, but he nails down one perversely sinister and obsessed performance. He comes across as one very mature weirdo. There's moments when you do question is he really that devious, or maybe it's all in the overactive imagination of Ekland's unstable character. But there really seems to be no doubt, despite the teasing nature of the story's structure and the finale with the scheming exchanges between Lester and Ekland. It's quite sombre and slow-going, as the tension is fuelled by the snappy character interactions, intense dialogues, unsure behaviour and edgy circumstances that Ekland's character finds herself in. Some moments you wouldn't catch nowadays, as underneath the surface there's an uneasy immoral sexual attraction between the two which starts off as innuendos and then advancements that leads to the infamous strip-down. The low-key story is a moody display of mind games (interesting to see the tables turned as just who's the evil one; not the step-mother) and uncomfortable situations, as it doesn't play for shocks or thrills (although there's one haunting pool sequence and the final few frames is quite jolting with a lasting blow). The directors (James Kelly and Andrea Bianchi) do a sturdy job, but try something experimental in where some scenes the formidable music swamps the dialogues (leaning on the body movements to tell the emotions along with the music) and towards the end it sends up some surreal, tripped-out visions implying the neurotic mindset of Ekland's character. Going a long way to selling it is a dependable performance by Brit Ekland. Looking radiant as ever (especially that doll face), she plays it in a rather mystified manner drawing up a wholehearted characterisation. Also appearing in good, potent parts are Harry Kruger, Harry Andrews and Lilly Palmers. Ekland's scenes with Andrews and Palmers are small, but are good contrasts to what goes to eventuate with her character. Stelvio Cipriani's music score is sensually enticing. "Curiosity was her downfall."