KnotMissPriceless Why so much hype?

GamerTab That was an excellent one.

Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Onlinewsma Absolutely Brilliant!

Nigel P Belle Adams (Hayley Mills) catches a lift with a local driver, amidst rumours of a maniac on the loose. Seems like someone has broken out of the nearby Greenwood Sanatorium. Interesting that the local reports don't specify whether the escapee is male or female. Anyway, the driver quite candidly feels he has the right to attempt to rape her as a form of 'settling the fare'. When she is rescued by a tipsy Simon Ward (as Steven Slade), he tells her 'she asked for it.' It is strange to see former child star Hayley Mills as a focus for lust among the men (she is, after all, 29 at this time). And smoking ciggies as well! Her wholesome image endures however and Adams is either very naïve or very brave to be travelling alone during such times on what appears to be a whim. Several flashbacks throw suspicion on both her and Slade, and it is good to see dependable Peter Jeffrey playing another rogue.They stop at a petrol station, where the young female attendant flirts with Slade. He has an eye for the ladies and his behaviour is a little odd. Not too surprising to find that she is murdered shortly after. Slade and Adams have temporarily split up during this time, leaving them both suspects. Unruffled, they reunite after Slade has apparently 'made a phone call', and continue their journey.From then on, it is one mishap after another. Belle meets up with the eccentric Malcolm Robarts (Sterling Hayden), who is clearly not going to let a thirty year age-gap stop him trying to woo Belle.The British locations are wonderful, all winter trees, barren roads, dilapidated petrol stations and, latterly, a windswept seaside town. Directed rather like a television movie by the prolific Sidney Hayes (who went on to have great success directing American series including 'Baywatch', 'Knight Rider' and 'Magnum PI', and his previous brush with horror was 1960's 'Circus of Horrors'), who wrings as much intrigue and tension out of the low budget. Interestingly when, during the finale, one character kills another character (you'll get no names out of me) there is no music, just the sound of taut rope being stretched around the throat of the victim.This is a terrific, sparse road-tale of psychological horror with a tiny cast of excellent actors, set in a bleak world where most people you meet are either sex-maniacs or hooligans. I always felt that Simon Ward never really had quite the success he deserved. The wonderful Mills moved away from acting for a few years after 'Deadly Strangers' before returning to television in 1981 for the highly-regarded 'Flame Trees of Thika', which lead to a renewed interest in the profession.

info-627-664439 1975's "Deadly Strangers" is a chilling must-see for Hayley Mills fans wherein she delivers a superlative performance as a hitch-hiker being pursued by a mysterious stranger played most effectively by Simon Ward. This film, directed by Sidney Hayers outdoes for Hayley's career what the Boulting Brothers did for her in "The Family Way" and "Twisted Nerve" in the late sixties. This film, despite its low-budget, makes the most of the economical script by Philip Levene and the expert use of Graham Edgar's cinematography and film editing by Barry Peters with music by Ron Goodwin. I think it completely shed her Disney image successfully, but finding a decent copy to share it with friends is perhaps the biggest outrage that the film subjects viewers to. Sterling Hayden is also in the cast in an unusual role. It does not seem to have been officially released in the U.S. except on VHS. Well worth the effort; it is entirely stylish and packs a wallop. I believe the director is also known for "Burn, Witch, Burn," but I'm not sure. Proof you can make cinema magic out of next to nothing.

Ian Pennick Deadly Strangers is quite a basic storyline with twist, the dialogue is a little flat, Chat up lines involving ostrich eggs for example.. The story rumbles along with a watchable quality and being a road movie the pace does pick up in the chase scenes. Though towards the end the chase in the woods tends to drop the action. One thing that is well worth noticing is the use of small mount cameras, quite innovative then. In many respects this film is more a car spotters dream.. If your into 70's British cars you will be pausing the DVD more times than you can imagine!Overall Hayley ,Simon and Sterling carry this script off,but the most surprising performance comes from the Maxi!!

padutchland-1 Guenot - I took that scene to mean that Hayley went into the station and killed the female attendant. If you remember the scene before, she saw the girl flirting with Simon Ward while she pumped the gasoline. Hayley had a weird look on her face, some kind of jealousy. There was no indication of rape that I saw, just that the girl was murdered. The murder wasn't shown purposely so that you wouldn't know who did it, but would suspect Simon (red herring). Therefore, I think we can safely conclude that Hayley did it, then climbed back into the car before Simon returned.Simon Ward did a great job playing James Herriot in the All Creatures Great and Small movie. And good old Sterling Hayden still knew how to turn in a great performance near the end of his career. Of course, all of Hayley's male fans are very appreciative of her bare bottom bathtub scene. All in all, it was a very good film and I liked the Hitchcock feel that ran throughout it. Recommended to all suspense movie fans.