The Seventh Victim

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Anon E A young woman leaves a secure environment to find her sister. She finds love that is mutual but cannot be fulfilled. Her sister is faced with death, but will only face death on her terms. She does. A private detective reaches out to help the young girl find her sister. He is killed. There is a scene stuck in for the censors - you'll see it by how out of place it is. In the middle of the movie there is a theater group happy as can be coming from a door with masks one smiling, one frowning. This movie is about those who frown. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 09/27/24 Full Review dave s An early effort in the short career of producer Val Lewton, The Seventh Victim is the story of a naïve schoolgirl (Kim Hunter) who travels to New York to investigate the disappearance of her older sister. Before you know it, she finds herself immersed in a world of shady characters and devil worshippers, never a good thing. While it has a couple of moments of genuine suspense, it ultimately feels as though it sinks under the weight of its meager running time as far too many characters are introduced, all of whom seem to have motives to keep the young girl ricocheting around Manhattan like a pinball. One lead immediately and improbably leads to another, all of which leads to a strangely unsatisfying climax and a stern lecture concerning good being a much better option in life than evil, as per the Lord's Prayer and the Hayes Code. It's not flagrantly bad, just flagrantly forgettable. Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review William L The Seventh Victim lives and dies on atmosphere and subtext, because on the surface it's mostly a darker, less engaging attempt at a Hitchcock thriller. There is a reliance on implication that that simultaneously provides much of what makes the film seem compelling, but at times boring on the surface, which isn't helped by a series of antagonists that never feel particularly threatening up close; only when you see them as shadows around corners or hear their threats through obscuring shower curtains do they feel as if they have any weight. There are certain moments when the cult's power is left in doubt and their willingness to subvert convention/commit violent acts really does give the audience a start (Esther's brazen bathroom intrusion, for instance), but the plot doesn't end up doubling down on it. There is a dark tone to The Seventh Victim that comes as a shock given the film standards of the time, capitalized by a morbid twist ending, but again so much of the time what is intended to be a creeping dread ends up becoming dull. Most unusually, both Brooks' Jacqueline and the other members of the Palladist cult espouse a particular brand of nihilism that was rather contrarian to the morality of the time, but then again they are chastised with the Lord's Prayer by a more 'well-adjusted' figure so I don't know exactly how revolutionary this stance is beyond recognizing the existence of people that didn't necessarily jive with the conservatism of the day. In recent years, critics have applauded what they believe to be homoerotic themes as well, even though if they were intended they are far more subtle (a woman experiencing depression after revealing a 'secret' to a psychiatrist, ostracism from the secretive in-group for revealing its existence, etc.). That may well be a valid analysis, but does it make this supposed-horror film any less boring? No, not really. (2.5/5) Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 09/16/21 Full Review joe m Middling noir-ish film with a horror undertone, "The Seventh Victim" has a lot of style and visually compelling scenes, but it can't save this muddled script and plot where it is not really clear why Jacqueline (Jean Brooks), sister of Mary (Kim Hunter), has gone missing even after Mary comes to NYC, stumbles on the Satanic cult her sister was mixed up with, then finds her sister only to keep losing her! A lot of dark alleys - pun intended - that seem to lead no where, especially to a coherent story. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member bwahahahahahahahahaha, proto so much of my favorite movies in such a weird, shambolic, somewhat off-the-wall format. Strong approve. And Joan Scott's incredible 1943 goth girl = YeSSSSSSS Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/13/23 Full Review Audience Member Not a perfect movie by any means, gets kinda convoluted after a certain point, but it's unnerving and creepy in ways few movies are, and its views on death and suicide are very daring. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/19/23 Full Review Read all reviews

The Seventh Victim

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