THE SEVENTH VICTIM (1943 RKO, produced by Val Lewton)

An amazing cycle of films, produced in the 1940s at one of the smaller Hollywood studios by the superb Val Lewton, includes such titles as Cat People, Bedlam and this near-forgotten masterpiece.

     A number of years ago, this cycle of films was released on video. At my local video store all the titles sat neatly on a shelf, just waiting for me to purchase them. All were priced 14.95 except The Seventh Victim, which was priced at 19.95. I snatched all but that one, indignant at the jacked-up price and refusing to buy it on principle. I was sure I could find it elsewhere.

     I was wrong. I couldn't find it anywhere else. And by the time I returned, humbled, to the video store to buy it, it had sold. It went out of print shortly after and I was denied the chance to even see the film, let alone own it.

     Fortunately our friends and fellow video enthusiasts at The Video Library have this wonderful item in their catalogue. And it was because of them that I finally got to see this great, must-see classic.

     Kim Hunter makes her film debut as Mary Gibson, whose only living blood relative, her sister Jacqueline (who raised her) has disappeared. Kim/Mary heads to Greenwich Village in New York to find her. What she finds is her sister being pursued by an organization of Satanists.

     The film is creepy, moody, beautifully shot in a noirish kind of way and utterly filled with dread. Tom Conway, Val Lewton's fellow Russian and a favourite actor, appears as a suave psychiatrist involved in the affair. Funny how he reminds one of George Sanders - except of course that he was George Sanders' brother.

     This superior film has many great moments and much artistic merit. One beautifully realized scene involves Kim Hunter in the shower when suddenly a shadow (seen only from Kim's perspective, through the shower curtain) enters the bathroom. Sounds like Psycho, right? The person who enters is a woman, involved in the cult, who comes to warn Ms. Hunter to cease her search for her sister. It is ominous, eerie and strange, just one of many scenes that illustrates what imagination and artistic integrity can do with a modest budget and limited resources.

     The question is, when will this great film be re-released? No doubt there are many people like me who would like to own it.

     In the meantime there is the Video Library (1-800-669-7157), who will deliver this and thousands of other great films right to your door. Maybe not all at once, mind you. But at least on a regular basis!

     The Seventh Victim should be one of the first titles on your list.

Jon Ted Wynne