The Haunting of Julia

The Haunting of Julia is an instance of the perfect blending of role and performer, with Mia Farrow cast as a young woman who may be either the victim of a ghostly possession or slowly disintegrating into madness. [26 Aug 1990, p.4]

Film has a fairly tight script which, in first half at least, builds up scary tensions nicely. There's a performance by Mia Farrow which is somewhat reminiscent of Rosemary's Baby, and enough supernatural trappings to please those who are fascinated by the occult.

Filmed in velvety browns, with shafts of sunlight filtered through old windows, The Haunting of Julia is a definite cut above the current horror movie cliche, but yet not up to the classic psychological ghost-story level it aims at.

Filmed and released in England in 1976 as FULL CIRCLE, this movie flopped badly and went unreleased Stateside until 1981, when it was unveiled under a new title and still failed to find its audience.

The narrative, from a story by Peter Straub, juggles ambiguously - if not carelessly - with themes thrown up and better developed in The Turn of the Screw, Don't Look Now and Rosemary's Baby... But there is much to commend in Farrow's performance, complemented by Colin Towns' softly chilling score, which is more than can be said for Conti and Dullea.

Based on a novel by Peter Straub, The Haunting of Julia manages to draw on every horror movie cliche imaginable and still make very little sense.