Film about a family of psychopaths. There's Mumsy (the mother), her two children Sonny and Girly (who are in the 20s but act like 13 year olds) and Nanny. They live in a huge old estate in a remote part of England. Every once in a while Sonny and Girly go out and bring home a "friend" they just met. Then they insist their friend plays childish, sadistic games with them. If he doesn't they kill him. However they bring home one guy who's going to fight back.

So-so movie. It's well-directed and all the acting is great but it seems to keep pulling its punches. It doesn't go far enough. The games are vicious but not too vicious and the sexual activity is all off screen. There's no sex, nudity, blood or violence in this one. Also if you really think about it there's huge plot holes in it. So it's not bad but it's too timid in its approach.

This was considered a lost film for many years until a print was discovered in 2004 and it was restored. It does have a cult following but that's mostly because of its director--Freddie Francis.

After reviewing 'The Whip & The Body' & 'House of Long Shadows', and because I've already covered the ultimate 'Family' horror film('Texas Chainsaw Massacre')and my 'Pink Flamingos' review was inevitable anyway, I decided to go a bit more esoteric and review this obscure film from director Freddie Francis(which has been sitting on my shelf for ages unwatched) as a sort of marathon of films featuring murderous, twisted families. I've always considered Francis one of the most underrated horror directors, and I always speculated that the reason for his detractor's venom, besides his infamous distaste for the genre; was because his films were often very accessible to mainstream audiences and mostly(Key word being mostly, 'The Ghoul', which I will also review for this 'Family Un-Friendly' marathon; is one of the bleakest bits of celluloid I have ever seen)meant to be 'fun films' like a carnival spook-house, and as his Amicus anthology films showed, he had a wry sense of humor. 'Mumsy, Nanny, Sonny & Girly' is fun, it is humorous, and it is wry; but it is anything but 'acessible'.

The film follows the exploits of an unnamed aristocratic family in '60's London who are led by an aging, but kindly(so far...)mother(Mumsy), a doting nanny(Do I have to explain here?) and two happy, life-loving siblings who love to skip around, harass zoo animals and the gruff attendant(a cameo by Michael Ripper; the British Dick Miller) and search for new friends among the disenfranchised(Sonny & Girly). These people sure are not like the Addams Family or The Munsters, or even TCM's Sawyer clan. There are no hulking butlers, vampirish femme fatales or dark clothing here, no abusive patriarchs or glaring portraits of great-Uncle Hugo either; All smile, speak in sappily cloying voices and compliment each other and giggle.

This would all seem perfectly ideal, if not for the fact that Sonny & Girly are in their early twenties and we never see Mumsy or Nanny, just hear their voices. And this is only just the first sign of something being not quite right. Francis does an excellent job building tension in these slowly paced early scenes, as we get a creeping sense of uneasiness. It all works amazingly well until we find out the truth: Sonny & Girly love to torment their 'friends', but not the way children normally do; after all, these are both adults here. No, they love to torment them, but if the 'friend' does not fully cooperate, then they die, and move on to new 'friends'. And after disposing of a homeless vet, the 'dears'(as Mumsy calls them)blackmail a drunken, middle-aged socialite after he accidentally kills his girlfriend on a slide into being their new 'friend' and bringing them pleasure...or else, and soon, Mumsy(An attractive middle-aged woman) finds new ways of using our protagonist to bring her pleasure as well, if you get what I mean, and soon, spinsterly Nanny finds herself wanting some of that pleasure as well...

Didn't I say this family was nothing like The Munsters, Addams or Sawyers? I was right, those families were well-adjusted compared to this brood. And it only gets worse when Girly interprets a rape by our protagonist(I hesitate to use the word 'hero', as not only is rape a horrible act whoever the victim is, but it steadily becomes apparent that he identifies with the family more than he lets on, which leads to a genuinely disturbing climax)as an act of love.

Francis does a great job weaving this twisted tale, the cinematography(his greatest strength)isn't as up to par as usual, but he more than makes up for it with his directorial flourishes, changing the film from a Not-quite-right day-in-the-life piece, to a 'Kind Hearts & Coronets'-style black comedy, to a genuinely disturbing and unpleasant drama. He also elicits great performances by the entire cast, particularly Vanessa Howard as Girly, and manages to make us experience every feeling of the protagonist, even though he is a character we don't particularly come to like, we still care about him.

The film is also a remarkable study of gender politics; for example, the entire film is driven by strong-willed, and deranged women, and all the male figures are weak. Even the homicidal, conniving Sonny is ultimately a pawn done away with as easily as his victims, our protagonist, on the other hand; the closest thing to a heroic, ideal male figure that the film has, is not only driven to the clutches of Girly by trying to escape his nagging, controlling girlfriend, but is controlled by her even after death as the guilt of his killing of her and fear of exposure is what keeps him at bay. Even when he becomes a bone of contention between the 3 females, he still remains a captive. The implications of the ending; as he gives in to his captivity at the hands of his two beautiful jailers even though he has the perfect opportunity to escape, is truly disturbing, he will never be free of nagging, bitchy, women, and now, ensnared, has given up all hope and decides to enjoy it. It is the myth of the succubus in a non-supernatural form, and quite possibly, given that there is no backstory to explain any of this, a supernatural explanation could reasonably be inferred. This makes this film either one of the most sexist films ever made, or one of the most intelligent films about warped sexuality ever made.

This debate is probably what will continue to fuel the cult following this obscure film increasingly enjoys.~