A psychopathic couple plan a murder with a difference in this impossibly rare Amicus horror.
With fine performances from Vanessa Howard (in her very last feature film appearance) and Paul Nicholas as the nightmarish couple, and with a heartrending performance from Mona Washbourne as Gran, this powerfully chilling portrayal of sadism and amorality was originally intended for release under the title “Romeo and Juliet ’71” when it was shot during February/March 1971.
More info on the film can be found at https://www.facebook.com/VanessaHowardChartoff
After post-production on “Romeo” was completed, the film was inexplicably abandoned before release, until it was resurrected in 1972 and given a very limited run overseas under its present title.
(I previously thought ‘Jack and Jill’ had never been shown in a UK cinema, but it’s recently come to light that it featured as support for ‘Conquest of the Planet of the Apes’ in some UK Odeon cinemas for one week only in October 1972. It was never shown as a main feature in its country of origin.)
It subsequently had only one heavily-cut showing on British TV (split between the ITV London area in March 1983, and ITV Anglia in June 1983), and has never had anything approaching an official videotape or DVD release.
I have uploaded it here (in its uncut version) in the hope that one day this vastly underrated film will get the official DVD release that it deserves.
Incidentally, filming locations in the London area include:
The Travel Agency (exterior) was in the shopping precinct (now demolished) at Walton-on-Thames.
The road where the couple wait for the bus is London Road, Twickenham (just south of Twickenham railway station).
The street where the fateful final scene takes place is St. Stephen’s Gardens, East Twickenham, London, while number 17 St. Stephen’s Gardens was used for the exterior shots of Gran’s house at various points throughout the film.
The ‘Moonshot’ car featured in the fantasy sequence is in reality a 1969 Aston Martin DBS V8.
(Research and notes by Amfonyx Ron)
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