Dotsthavesp I wanted to but couldn't!

GazerRise Fantastic!

RipDelight This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

Kaydan Christian A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

MissSimonetta A double feature of this and How to Steal a Million finally made me get Audrey Hepburn's enduring appeal for most movie lovers. I liked her well enough before in her 1950s classics like Roman Holiday, Funny Face, and Sabrina, but these two movies were like a revelation, especially Wait Until Dark, which is a great little horror movie about one of the most primal of fears: home invasion.Hepburn's character and performance are a big part of why the movie works so well. She's vulnerable and at a disadvantage due to having to adjust to being blind, but she's also clever and observant. She doesn't have to be a tough as nails warrior to be heroic or compelling. She's just an ordinary woman who rises to the occasion when presented with a terrifying scenario. Hepburn plays the character's mounting alienation and desperation well. As the justly acclaimed climax approaches, she takes on the quality of a trapped animal, trying her best not to completely lose her mind from terror. The other great performance comes from Alan Arkin, whose portrayal of the sadistic psychopath Mr. Roat was criticized as too exaggerated back in 1967. The critics were so wrong: the character is charming and funny, but he's also menacing, a drug-smuggler who's other interests include mutilation, murder, and rape. The climax where he has Hepburn at his mercy is legitimately terrifying, if only because the audience knows what kind of monstrous acts he's capable of pulling. The interplay between the heroine and the villains is what makes this movie truly great: every time it seems like poor Audrey is about to be had, she's able to keep one step ahead of the rest of them. The celebrated climax in which Hepburn is trapped alone with Arkin in the blacked out apartment possesses this quality in spades, with the two engaging in a charged game of survival.People often wonder why Hepburn's character chooses to keep the doll away from the criminals even after she learns how much danger she's in. My personal theory is that Susy is more motivated by a desire to reclaim a sense of power and independence than mere self-preservation for most of the movie. Part of the reason why Wait Until Dark is such a memorable movie is because its protagonist is a woman who is still trying to come to terms with her blindness and recover a sense of mastery over her life; she often feels useless and like a burden to others (her interactions with Sam at the beginning of the movie suggest she is afraid he'll regret having married her due to her handicap). Notice how she's also constantly being pulled around by the arm by those men-- it's symbolic of how they clearly underestimate her intelligence and independence. By the time she realizes she's been subject to a huge con game toward the middle of the movie, she's sick of being the victim and decides to thwart the crooks' scheme. Her motivations are more emotional than practical, and she only decides to opt out once it looks like she cannot conceivably fight back and win (basically when Roat opens the fridge during the blackout scene).Though clearly based off a stage play, the limitation of the sets to one little apartment never hampers the movie; if anything, it adds to the atmosphere of entrapment. Henry Mancini's music contributes as well; it's haunting and creepy, a good accompaniment to this well-directed picture. I'm actually shocked it isn't more acclaimed.

bubulac I had great expectations from this movie, especially seeing the high rating and the actors' names. What I got instead proved to be an extremely naive "thriller/mystery" that left me with more questions than answers. For example, why wouldn't she just give them the damn doll?!! Or why send the little girl in the park to look for her husband so that he can come with the police instead of just sending her directly to the police station? Even the way the criminals tried to convince her to give up the doll is not at all convincing? What happened to good old physical methods that are so common in today's movies? And so on and so forth, I could just go on and on forever. Disappointed, that's what sums it.

capone666 Wait Until DarkSince sunlight doesn't matter to them, blind people should only work nightshifts.Fortunately, the blind woman in this thriller doesn't have a day job to worry about losing.When a drug mule stashes an antique doll filled with heroin on her husband (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) during his flight home, sightless Susy (Audrey Hepburn) becomes the unwilling victim to the thugs (Alan Arkin, Richard Crenna, Jack Weston) who come to her apartment looking for it.In order to best the burglars, Susy exploits what remaining faculties she has by grabbing a kitchen knife and cutting all power to her place.With a top tier cast, a slow-burner script adapted from the Broadway production and a gripping score courtesy of Henry Mancini, Wait Until Dark is a testament to the resilience of both women and the disable. Lastly, if you can't steal from a blind woman maybe you shouldn't be a criminal.Green Lightvidiotreviews.blogspot.ca

Python Hyena Wait Until Dark (1967): Dir: Terence Young / Cast: Audrey Hepburn, Alan Arkin, Richard Crenna, Jack Weston, Julie Herrod: Spellbinding psychological thriller about time and condition as a blind woman, played by Audrey Hepburn discovers ominous strangers presenting themselves in her apartment seeking a doll. It conceals drugs and Alan Arkin seeks assistance from fellow criminals Richard Crenna and Jack Weston in order to gain trust into the whereabouts. Director Terence Young makes great use of lighting as the apartment becomes eerie and ominous. Young previous directed a few James Bond outings before graduating to this. Hepburn is well cast as the blind heroine who slowly learns to use her limitations to her advantage during key moments. Arkin is brilliant as this sadistic killer whose methods are sly, cunning and deadly until his overconfidence becomes his enemy. Crenna and Weston are superb as blackmailed con men out to talk Hepburn out of the doll she knows nothing about. Crenna in particular begins to develop romantic feelings towards her. Julie Herrod plays a young girl in the building who allies herself with Hepburn as sort of watch out. Shocking masterpiece right down to its nail biting conclusion where limitations are advantages when pride overshadows the realization that the darkness waited upon may be the blessing of survival. Score: 10 / 10