Day 28: Rorret

I finally got the answer to a question that's been bugging me since I got my copy of Blood and Black Lace by Adrian Luther Smith.

On page 145, there's a full-page picture of someone peeking out from behind a curtain.  There's no caption, I'm assuming from some editorial gaffe, since every other pic in the book has a caption.

It's from Rorret!

Always nice to have questions answered.

Rorret begins with Carlo showing up at a new movie theater specializing in horror movies called the Peeping Tom (a reference to the Michael Powell film of the same name--more on that later).  Carlo is there to inquire about a projectionist job.  He, along with a bunch of others, show up at 3:00.  But nobody lets them in.  Hours pass, and everybody else gets fed up and leaves.  Carlo stays and somehow manages to let himself in.

When Carlo enters, a phone rings in the office.  Carlo answers.  On the other end of the line is Joseph Rorret.  Carlo passed the test.  He's now in charge of running the movie theater, with instructions to be given to him every day.  Rorret refuses to meet Carlo in person, saying things are better this way.

We then shift focus to Rorret.  He lives in an apartment behind the movie screen, spending his days peering at the women in the audience as they watch movies like Blood In The Shower (a riff on Psycho).  Rorret then finds a way to weasel himself into meeting the women that intrigue him the most, gaining their trust and then killing them.

Rorret (spell it backwards) could be best described as a horror buff's Peeping Tom.  And director Fulvio Wetzl doesn't hide his influence whatsoever.  At least two scenes are recreated and played in the theater in the film.  The film also lifts a lot of the themes of Michael Powell's picture, but manages to be different enough to keep from being a direct remake.

Rorret was a pleasant surprise.  It's another slowly paced movie, but one that is worth a watch.  It managed to build some suspense, and boasts a killer performance by Lou Castel.  Check it out.

And while you're at it, definitely do yourself a favor and check out Peeping Tom.  It's one of my favorite thrillers of all time, and a film that is terribly under the radar.  When I get the money, I am so ordering it.  Mad at myself that I don't have it yet.

Later.
-Justin