Séance on a Wet Afternoon (1964)

Director
Bryan Forbes

Main cast
Kim Stanley; Richard Attenborough; Marian Spencer; Judith Donner; Margaret Lacey

Genres
Thriller, Drama, Crime

Description
An intensely claustrophobic nail-biter, Seance on a Wet Afternoon is a classic British thriller written and directed by Bryan Forbes. Set largely in an imposing Gothic house in north London, the film stars Richard Attenborough as Bill Savage, a man struggling to maintain his marriage to his increasingly unbalanced wife, Myra, played in an Oscar-nominated performance by the little-known but brilliant Broadway actress Kim Stanley. Myra, who believes she is a medium, plans a scheme that will make her famous, involving kidnapping then "psychically" locating a little girl. Attenborough and Stanley are both superb in what is part riveting battle of wills, part nerve-wracking kidnap thriller with, just possibly, a touch of the supernatural.Gerry Turpin's precise black and white cinematography, and John Barry's chilling score add significantly to the atmosphere of dread.


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