CLASSIC FILM CHOICE

DON’T LOOK NOW

(1973) 18 Thursday, 9pm, BBC4

The schedules are filling with scary movies as Halloween approaches, and here’s a classic to chill you to the bone. Director Nicolas Roeg’s adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s short story is set in Venice, a magical city of dreams; here, it becomes an extended nightmare for grieving parents John and Laura (Donald Sutherland, above, and Julie Christie). Under leaden skies, the couple attempt to move on with their lives after the tragic loss of their young daughter. An encounter with a blind woman claiming to be psychic appears to restore Laura, briefly, while John is plagued by disturbing visions – including those of a child-sized figure in a red raincoat – that send him into a tailspin. The ending is one of cinema’s most satisfying, and disturbing.