Nigel P Amicus, who had a strong run of anthology horror films by this time (and would continue to have more throughout the ensuing decade) released this film two years after its completion. Its minimalist approach was difficult to market and it sank without much fanfare, and is now extremely rare. It concerns the machinations of Johnnie and Jill, indulging in some bizarre 'young versus old' theatrics (with imagery of teens dressed as Nazi soldiers, gunning down a truckload of pensioners, who are herded like cattle) to frighten Johnnie's rich Gran to death.Vanessa Howard plays Jill with all the hallmarks of a 1970's wrong 'un. Chewing gum, slightly cockney, indulges in casual sex – definitely bad news. Howard plays her convincingly. A dark dreamer, she wants a better life than the one which currently traps her. And it does trap her. Her boss casually gropes her as a matter of course, and the locations where she lives are dank and littered with grim perpetual winter's drizzle.Jack is played by Paul Nicholas, who went on to become a successful pop singer – one of his biggest hits was called 'Grandma's Party'. He doesn't want to work ('9-5? Who needs a bloody job?' he asks himself) and provides a comparative voice of reason between them both.Gran, Alice Talent, is played by Mona Washbourne who refuses to portray her as the sweet, docile old girl this film seems to cry out for. Instead, she is more real, grounded, and not afraid to tell Jack a few home truths now and again. But when she breaks down and declares, "You'd think it was a crime to be old. We can't help it," whilst facing the brunt of Jack's continued lapses into passive aggression, your heart breaks for her.Like 'Mumsy, Nanny, Sonny and Girly (1971)', the star of this particular show is Vanessa Howard, who is ice cold throughout but still has some wonderful lines (her departing words to her former employer: "Book yourself a nice cruise, right up your own back passage!"). All performances are terrific, especially when the two youngsters are written as such wholly unlikeable characters.The story is slow and mostly uneventful, enlivened by the characters and their mounting arguments when their carefully laid plans come to nothing in their drizzly lives of 70's drudgery. The film certainly doesn't deserve it's mostly forgotten status. Whilst hardly a straightforward horror, the concepts are certainly brutal and the slight humour that embraces them is dark indeed.

malcolmgsw I do not think that this film was released in the UK.It certainly has not made it out on DVD.It is a rather strange film.It takes an awful long time to get to its climax and when it does all you can think its"so what".In fact when the couple go into see the solicitor about the reading of the will you think ,rightly,from that moment on that everything is about to go downhill.It is difficult to know why the makers thought this film was worth making.It is not a horror film,it is not sexploitation it is not a mystery thriller,it is just a mess.One can only feel pity for dear old Mona Washbourne that she felt that she had to appear in this.Although only 69 when the film was made she looks absolutely dreadful.

Theo Robertson Jack lives with his elderly grandmother who he looks after . He hates this and resents caring for her . Along with Jill his gold digging girlfriend they hatch a plan to get rid of her If the premise above reads as a bit too simplistic then you'd probably have a point . It's the old Shakespearian tragedy of a young weak greedy man listening too much to a slutty greedy woman and coming to regret it . However this isn't enough to to condemn the film as being bad in anyway and while it's not terribly good neither is it terribly bad , just a little bit predictable The cast are somewhat one note with Paul Nicholas as a hip early 1970s young cat brooding that the best years of his life will revolve around looking after his elderly grandmother who he has murderous fantasies towards . Vanessa Howard plays Jill who is a bit too slutty to be entirely credible but if you're a hip young cat then the tail wags the dog if you know what I mean and Mona Washbourne plays Gran who despite being a coffin dodger isn't written or portrayed as being insufferably selfish , just old The directing by Bill Bain is rather static and workman like which is not too surprising since most of his prior and subsequent work was in the field of television . One interesting aspect Bain does bring to the film is a cinematography featuring muted sepia tones which is the only real remarkable thing in an unremarkable film

grantch This is one of those films almost no one living seems to have seen, yet remember. I only caught it once in '72 or '73 but found it great fun. An opportunistic young couple are after an elderly lady's money ... their plot & how they set it up is absorbing. This is a half-remembered movie, probably in line with the youth-oriented '70's American flicks like Three in the Attic and Wild in the Streets, which I would welcome enjoying again. It's not great, but it's very enjoyable "black humour".