"Never Take Candy from a Stranger"--as the film was titled when I watched it--is a product of Hammer Productions or, as it is sometimes known, Hammer Horror. As I watched the film, I regarded it as a drama, and that is how it is described on IMDb, but as the film progressed I realized it is a horror film, pure and simple.
Like the film "Jaws"--which is listed under the horror genre--the monster is a largely unknown quantity. This allows the audience its fear of the unknown. We see the old man early on, but only briefly. The director does not allow the monster to talk. This is a plot hole, as the Jean, the daughter who visited his home, describes conversation they had. But it's a clever way to make the man less human.
Other reviewers have described the old man (Clarence Olderberry, Sr.) as a "pedophile". I can see why they would use that term, but in the film he is somewhat like Frankenstein's monster--uttering inarticulate gibberish, with a stumbling gait. Frankenstein's monster was merely misunderstood, of course, and the old man may be no more than that. He certainly has a mental illness in the broadest sense of that word. The director does a good job of implying the worst and let the viewer succumb to his own fears.
Another plot hole concerns the way Jean becomes so afraid of Clarence Olderberry, Sr. despite the fact that when she first tells her parents of meeting with him, she is quite matter of fact about it and displays no fear of the man. It's possible that Jean's opinion might have been altered by the behavior of her parents or her courtroom experience. The director needs her to be afraid so that the ending of the film has an impact.
But the film is not really about the fears of the young girls. The fears of the parents are what the director taps into to create tension and fear in the audience. And he does a good job of it. The use of B&W stock gives the film a Gothic tone. He often shoots from the point of view of the girls when they are being chased. Seen strictly as a drama, this film is adequate, but as a horror film it is quite effective and the plot miscues can be seen as contrivances necessary to create tone. I suggest that it might have been even more effective if the elder Olderberry had not been shown at all in the early part of the film. Like the shark in "Jaws", the alien in "Alien", or even Boo Radley in "To Kill a Mockingbird", more tension can be elicited if the monster is left strictly to the imagination of the viewer.
A film that is more successful in tapping parental fears is "The Bad Seed", where the horror is tempered with the parents' own fears that they contributed to the creation of the monster.
Like the film "Jaws"--which is listed under the horror genre--the monster is a largely unknown quantity. This allows the audience its fear of the unknown. We see the old man early on, but only briefly. The director does not allow the monster to talk. This is a plot hole, as the Jean, the daughter who visited his home, describes conversation they had. But it's a clever way to make the man less human.
Other reviewers have described the old man (Clarence Olderberry, Sr.) as a "pedophile". I can see why they would use that term, but in the film he is somewhat like Frankenstein's monster--uttering inarticulate gibberish, with a stumbling gait. Frankenstein's monster was merely misunderstood, of course, and the old man may be no more than that. He certainly has a mental illness in the broadest sense of that word. The director does a good job of implying the worst and let the viewer succumb to his own fears.
Another plot hole concerns the way Jean becomes so afraid of Clarence Olderberry, Sr. despite the fact that when she first tells her parents of meeting with him, she is quite matter of fact about it and displays no fear of the man. It's possible that Jean's opinion might have been altered by the behavior of her parents or her courtroom experience. The director needs her to be afraid so that the ending of the film has an impact.
But the film is not really about the fears of the young girls. The fears of the parents are what the director taps into to create tension and fear in the audience. And he does a good job of it. The use of B&W stock gives the film a Gothic tone. He often shoots from the point of view of the girls when they are being chased. Seen strictly as a drama, this film is adequate, but as a horror film it is quite effective and the plot miscues can be seen as contrivances necessary to create tone. I suggest that it might have been even more effective if the elder Olderberry had not been shown at all in the early part of the film. Like the shark in "Jaws", the alien in "Alien", or even Boo Radley in "To Kill a Mockingbird", more tension can be elicited if the monster is left strictly to the imagination of the viewer.
A film that is more successful in tapping parental fears is "The Bad Seed", where the horror is tempered with the parents' own fears that they contributed to the creation of the monster.