For years, Jane Prescott (Alexis Iacono), a former great actress whose
face had been horribly disfigured live on stage, has been living in her
remote decaying mansion with nothing but her baby doll (who shares her
features) as her companion. That she has become a bit weird and creepy
over the years would be a blunt understatement: She has developed the
habit to talk to the baby doll and expect her to talk back, she has gotten
used to wearing an eccentric carneval mask to hide her scars, even though
nobody can see her, she's still rehearsing for Romeo and Julia (the
very play during which she was disfigured), and she expects her former
lover (Marc Balfour) to show up at her doorstep any moment now - which is
why she also always dresses in extravagant gowns. Then her lover
actually shows up, ready to take her back - and it's not her scarred face
but her insane behaviour that makes him rethink his decision - but by that
time, she has already taken matters into her own hands and locks him in
... which only leads to much much worse ... Prescott Place
is a fascinating film, because it is on one hand a fascinating hommage to
horror movies, melodramas, psychological thrillers and film noirs from the
1940's in everything from camerawork to lighting to acting, but on the
other hand, it tells an entirely original story (which is quite a feat
especially when you factor in that the film at times is reminiscent of Whatever
Happened to Baby Jane?, itself another hommage to 1940's cinema). And
thus, despite the many references to the cinema of old (and probably the
greatest decade in filmmaking history), this film manages to remain 100%
fresh and patina-free. Totally recommended!
If that has made you at all curious, you might as well want to
watch the movie (for free and 100% legit) here: http://www.snagfilms.com/
films/title/prescott_place
|