cult film freak: THE PEOPLE NEXT DOOR

Written by James M. Tate / 11/18/2010 / No comments / cloris leachman , deborah winters , drama , eli wallach , hal holbrook , julie harris , rug culture , seventies , stephen mchattie

THE PEOPLE NEXT DOOR

11/18/2010 | No comment

year: 1970 cast: Eli Wallach, Deborah Winters, Julie Harris, Stephen McHattie rating: ***1/2

A psychedelic-era cult film about a suburban family with problems beneath the surface, headlined by rebellious teenager "Maxie," played by Deborah Winters who, when not freaking out on bad acid, scrutinizes her parent's shortcomings: like booze and hypocrisy.

Eli Wallach is terrific as the drink-after-work patriarch, as are Stephen McHattie as the hippie son and wife Julie Harris, whose hard-nosed lecture to Maxie in a mental institution provides an explosive, and perhaps even effective, climax. But it's Deborah Winters alone, who, with a brooding reserve as intense as the drug-induced tirades, provides an underlying "vibe" throughout: where anything can happen... at any time.

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Tags : cloris leachman , deborah winters , drama , eli wallach , hal holbrook , julie harris , rug culture , seventies , stephen mchattie

James M. Tate

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