Robin Redbreast ( Robin Red breast ) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - United Kingdom ]

This is a wonderful televised play, originally broadcast in colour by the BBC in 1970 but now released by the BFI in black and white as that is all that now exists. It actually benefits from being in black and white as it adds to the creepy surreal atmosphere and helps locate the story in a time long gone. Excellent acting in this production. As well as being a very worthy addition to the collection of any fan of 'folk horror', this play is also loaded with sub-text regarding just about everything: rural/urban, educated/uneducated, existential void/belief, strict traditional morality/modern women's rights to enjoy carnal pleasure and rights to use birth control and choose abortion. It is very relevant today; it must have been very controversial if not shocking back in 1970! It is a very influential play, too. Think of cult classic 'The Wicker Man'. Actually another film, 'Darklands' directed by Julian Richards in 1996, which many have unfairly critiqued as being 'just a Welsh rip-off of The Wicker Man', is a much closer link to 'Robin Redbreast'. If you love 'folk horror' and anything that is quirky and has an eerie surreal undertow to it then I think you will enjoy this. I'm so happy that the BFI have chosen to release this, otherwise I, and many others, would never have known about this play.

I should, and do, thank the BFI for giving me the opportunity to see this vintage "Play For Today" from the BBC 1970. I remember seeing it back then and in my youthful way being impressed by Anna Cropper, and the rather sinister plot. Viewing it some nearly 50 years later, it has lost some (a lot) of it's power to scare and shock (Cropper's sex scenes and lust were pretty rare back then), tho the sex is still well done and the storyline still retains some effective scenes, it has sadly dated. Another reviewer strongly criticised the acting - well acting in a live TV drama 50 years ago was different as were the directing techniques, and apart from Julian Holloway and Amanda Walker I thought the acting pretty convincing (Bernard Hepton being particularly spooky). I am glad I saw it, but find it hard to recomend except to viewers who may remember the period, and are interested in the current BFI output. An excellent little booklet acompanies the DVD and is worth reading, plus an interview, a doc., and optional English subtitles (I do wish the BFI would make the subs just a bit more accessible, it took 3 attempts on my part, but that's a minor quibble.

I bought this out of sheer curiosity, having seen a reference to it in a book on 1960s culture. It is a very spooky black and white film, originally made for TV, about the survival of a sinister pagan cult in a remote part of England. There is sex and there is violence, but the story is very compelling.

This very well acted, designed and directed precursor to such movies as The Wicker Man is dated admittedly but still quite effective. The sense of rural mystery and tradition is well evoked by a strong cast in a convincing and chilling way. The small details which are very authentic for city dwellers who move to the country - the insects and vermin which come into ones home - the darkness of the night sky - the strange "unaccountable" sounds are all very effectively evoked by the writer who used his own direct experience of such things in developing the script. Yes, its his own home they used, the interior set was a reproduction of the actual interior and he did see a naked man practicing karate in the woods! Despite the fact the colour original is now missing, the black and white source material from which this BFI copy originates, is very good until the last section of the "film" where deterioration is sadly evident but it still does not spoil ones enjoyment of this macabre and strangely memorable story. Don't read the programme notes, or see the extras, until you have seen the 70 minute film itself, as it will take away much of the suspense. Although this is not a programme for everyone and particularly young people brought up on much more horrendous and fast-moving material - it is good that the BFI and other distributors are making available these gems from the archive for those of us with fond memories of such impressive programmes as this The Stone Tape, The Exorcism, the M.R.James adaptations etc etc - which we enjoyed so much in the past and which remain remarkably effective even today. Oh and the director did have a problem getting the reference to a "dutch cap" through the bosses at the BBC. My word how times have change! Such things are almost compulsory now....

Although the script is extremely predictable , this play is actually very watchable and by viewing it with todays eyes, is a good example of the period in which it was filmed .. It has the same slant as Rosemary's baby but with a different twist. The short film that accompanies it is well worth a look at, mainly due to the vintage appeal it now has.