The Survivor (1981)

A Disappointing Continuation

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

One of only a few James Herbert adaptations to reach the screen (the others being "Deadly Eyes" a.k.a. "The Rats", "Fluke", and "The Haunted"), this is a pretty effective movie overall. Directed by actor David Hemmings ("Blowup", "Deep Red"), it's handled with a large degree of sensitivity and subtlety, and is quite slowly paced as well, focusing on building its atmosphere rather than centering around shocks - all reasons why some horror fans might not care for it too much. But if you're patient with this one, you will be rewarded with a film that succeeds at creating a vague sense of unease and maintaining a level of unpredictability.It certainly begins with a bang: a 747 plane crash lands in the Australian countryside, and its pilot Keller (Robert Powell) walks away without a scratch. Burdened with the guilt of being the only survivor, he's also suffering from amnesia and is determined to discover the cause of the crash. He's eventually assisted by a young woman with psychic abilities, played by an especially beautiful Jenny Agutter.Also in the cast are Australian actress Angela Punch McGregor, whom you may remember as Michael Caine's leading lady in the film version of Peter Benchley's "The Island", and Hollywood legend Joseph Cotten, although Cotten truthfully never gets a whole lot to do as a local priest. Thankfully, Powell and Agutter are so good that they carry the movie quite well.The paranormal is introduced into this moody story a bit at a time, with Hemmings never going for the cheap thrill; whatever violence is in the movie is mostly done off screen. Audiences may well appreciate the incredible work that the production does in creating a crash site, and enjoy the way that things wrap up with a creepy reveal / confrontation and a nifty (if not all that original) final twist.As was said, this may not be to every taste, but genre fans looking for more obscure efforts from decades past are advised to look into it.Seven out of 10.

Director David hemming worked with dario argento on deep red one of dario's masterpiece's. you can see his influence all over this movie. all though this is no argento classic if your like his work you really should check this out. it contains the creepy mood, the scatological narrative and very good use of sound that is unsettlingly.even though it.s over long and a bit of a let down in the end, i enjoyed the journey much like a argento films, it not the end but getting there that counts.you would not no this was an Aussie movie but i suppose it does not matter for the story is universal. dean seale was cinematographer on this and he did a master job creating a mood for this ghost story.as a piece of Aussie history in cinema when we made a wide variety of genre movies unlike today. plus i had forgot how lovely jenny agutter was i think its time to watch an American werewolf in London again.

The screenplay was certainly absorbing,but David Hemmings did not do a good job with it.It arguably has the seeds which spawn such later works as "fearless" (1994) and "unbreakable" ,but directing cannot pull it off properly,despite of its cast including Robert Powell whose strange looks were tailor-made for the part,Jenny Agutter who seems to be waiting for something to happen concerning her character,and Joseph Cotten whose end of career cannot compare favorably with Hitchcock and Welles works :here he is totally wasted .Interesting because of its connection with the later developments of the fantastic.

This is a pretty cool film, and I have been surprised at how much it has been ignored over the years. Halliwell's Film Guide doesn't list it at all. It's a chilling, atmospheric horror story that plays on the audience's deepest fears about what lies in the dark. That said, the book is still better and alot more unsettling and disturbing. All the James Herbert novels I've read are very graphic and go into a great detail about sex and death, although I wouldn't say they make good bedtime reading.