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Neither The Sea Nor The Sand (1972)
By lngway2go | October 1, 2007
Director: Fred Burnley
Producer: Peter Fetterman, Jack Smith
Starring: Susan Hampshire, Frank Finlay, Michael Petrovitch, Michael Craze, Jack Lambert, Betty Duncan, David Garth, Anthony Booth
Anna (Susan Hampshire), a young married woman, travels to the Island of Jersey for a break away from her failing marriage. On the island she meets Hugh (Michael Petrovitch) and they quickly become involved in a passionate affair. When it comes time for Anna to leave the island and go back to her husband she decides to stay. Hugh brings her to the home which he shares with his brother George (Frank Finlay), who instantly disapproves of the relationship, and so the couple quickly fly off to Scotland to continue the romance undisturbed.
In Scotland, while running on the beach Hugh falls and is left in an unresponsive state. Distraught, Anna goes to find help, leaving Hugh alone on the beach. When the doctor arrives Hugh is pronounced dead and the cause of his death remains a mystery.
As plans for what to do with the body begin to be discussed, everyone is surprised to see Hugh alive. Believing the doctor to be at fault Anna takes Hugh back to Jersey, where she reveals everything to George. Hugh is verbally unresponsive, cold and without a pulse. George quickly accuses Anna of witchcraft and sorcery, but Anna believes that their love for one another brought Hugh back to her. When George tries to take Hugh to an exorcist, George’s efforts are quickly put to an end.
As you can imagine, after a few days pass, Hugh’s dead body begins to decay, and he’’s beginning to smell the house out! The reasons for his return is revealed to Anna, and she is left to decide if she wants to stay with Hugh forever or end the relationship for good.
A lot of restraint is shown in this interesting film, so those looking for something akin to Joe D’Amato’s Beyond the Darkness (1979) will be sorely disappointed. Neither the Sea Nor the Sand is a well paced film that is nicely executed, and manages to maintain interest without being an out and out horror film; dare I say the majority of the film plays much like a romance film! This little English oddity definitely needs to be more appreciated. It is well worth checking out if you aren’t expecting too much in the way of blood and guts!
Topics: Necrophilia |