Many people cite "To The Devil, A Daughter" as being Hammer's attempt at modernising, but this title does a pretty good job of it, too. While watching it I was struck by the similarities with other kitchen sink dramas (most of which would have been made 5 years before this). Star Rita Tushingham was in a couple of those earlier films herself. Aspects of "Billy Liar", "Peeping Tom" and "Poor Cow" meld into this bleak, nihilistic morality tale for the early 70s.
Tushinghams character (she uses three different names throughout the movie) leaves humdrum Liverpool to find a father for her baby. Falling in with a trendy boutique crowd in London, she ends up moving in (very quickly) with a shady stranger. It turns out he hates beautiful things, and this is why he likes Rita (and he kills his own dog when Rita adds a pretty bow).
The movie is fast paced and low on gore (but has a lots of disturbing scenes of psychological intensity). It is very unlike the other, more famous Hammer films - it's set in modern times and plays on modern sensibilities; it does away with mythos and superstition and has a very real and very human "bad guy"; the villain in question will get away with it because of his looks and charm and - oh, yeah, this is definitely not a film with a happy ending . . .
Tushinghams character (she uses three different names throughout the movie) leaves humdrum Liverpool to find a father for her baby. Falling in with a trendy boutique crowd in London, she ends up moving in (very quickly) with a shady stranger. It turns out he hates beautiful things, and this is why he likes Rita (and he kills his own dog when Rita adds a pretty bow).
The movie is fast paced and low on gore (but has a lots of disturbing scenes of psychological intensity). It is very unlike the other, more famous Hammer films - it's set in modern times and plays on modern sensibilities; it does away with mythos and superstition and has a very real and very human "bad guy"; the villain in question will get away with it because of his looks and charm and - oh, yeah, this is definitely not a film with a happy ending . . .