While some find this film dull, slow-paced and even pretentious, I think it's well-written and very haunting. Dating from 1986, Mesmerized stars Jodie Foster prior to her success in such films as Accused and Silence Of The Lambs or even Contact, and by then experienced actor John Lithgow. The premise- an orphaned New Zealand girl is sold into a loveless marriage with wealthy businessman who is cruel and abusive. Michael Murphy plays the role of Wilson, her distant lover. The dark character of Oliver Thomson is played terrifically by John Lithgow. The greatest scenes are those with Lithgow and Foster as Victoria. Jodie Foster, in British accent, plays a very authentic Victorian tragic heroine. The dominant, cruel and sexually bizarre Oliver further breaks the poor Victoria's spirit. Some of the film drags on to a kind of boredom, and lacks the necessary drive for a powerful horror (or psychological horror) as some other films, but it's very Gothic and haunting if you look closely. The dialog is stilted (John Lithgow is even using a Scottish accent) but it works mainly because it's a period piece. Shadows, Victorian homes, barnyards, eerie silences, all effectively work in this movie. The only parts I disliked were the scenes in which Oliver gets sick. He is a bit melodramatic in his sickness. Plus, its incongruous to his domineering persona once so healthy and virile. But the film is good to watch late night. It's almost a 19th century attempt at Silence Of the Lambs which would not come till about 5 years later for Foster, which would make her a star, opposite the equally famous Anthony Hopkins. This film is really quite good and among the better psychological horror pieces. The title refers to the fact Oliver uses hypnosis to control his feisty wife. Very chilling. Makes you think what would happen if someone in our own time would do that to control his or her own spouse. The cinematography is quite good, the costumes, the horse-drawn carriages, all add up to a sustained Gothic melodrama about a dominant man and his mousy wife, who is also not a force to be reckoned with.
Review of Mesmerized
