House on Straw Hill

April 14, 2014

House on Straw Hill

A haughty novelist, with a desire to be free from hangers-on that might want to leech off his supposed fame, hires a typist to help him put his thoughts to paper, unaware she harbors a secret that might just pose him harm.

***/*****

Udo Kier needs a typist as he struggles to put his words to paper, unable to dictate his own creative thoughts in a form he can be satisfied with. Linda Hayden arrives to be that typist, but soon she begins to gain a type of control over the author, by forcing out his maid, arousing and seducing Kier’s lover, and ultimately attaining Kier’s contentment and comfort, all the while plotting something that will eventually come to fruition once the new novel sees its end. Meanwhile, two sleazy local punks soon descend upon her while Hayden is lying in the field pleasuring herself, but suffer for doing so (bringing along a shotgun was unwise).

I think the beauty of this rural psycho thriller set at a country house surrounded by wheat fields is what lies behind the eyes of Hayden’s typist. She’s playing a psychological game with Udo Kier’s self-indulgent author, seemingly bent on creating unease in his life; the maid, the lover, and his art are targeted ultimately by her. You see a scene where the maid unknowingly walks into her own doom unawares, as a knife slices her throat, Kier’s on-again / off-again lover invited back to the house for sexual extra-curricular activities and soon part of a dalliance with Hayden (Hayden clearly in charge of this, luring her into it by first groping her, eventually capitalizing on Kier’s absence by seducing her in bed), and Hayden reveals why she seems familiar to Kier (he keeps wondering where he’s seen her before).

The version I watched was pretty rough, but at least I finally had a chance to see House on Straw Hill. Hayden, to me, is the reason to watch it, although Kier is certain to be considered easy on the eyes of a female audience, I’m sure. I think this is a good example of how British films had become even less retrained during the 70s. Something closer in proximity to a Pete Walker film, House on Straw Hill spends almost its entirety at Kier’s current residence, as he hides away trying to put together a salacious novel full of descriptive words involving sex and passion, with Hayden typing frantically to keep up with his rapid pace (demanding and strict, he expects her to follow his lead implicitly). As time goes on, his orderly expectations of organized routine fall victim to Hayden’s ability to interrupt this and motivate change. He falls under her spell, and a promise of future love-making after the novel is complete seems to thrive within him. He has no idea what awaits him and what fuels a harboring dislike inside Hayden, ready for just the right time to unveil her hidden motives and guarded secret when he least expects it.

A suicide and dead eyes haunt Kier and could be a source of the film’s ending twist as a butcher knife and shotgun are aimed with intents to kill. At the beginning of the film, Kier has hot sex with Fiona Richmond (this actress has no qualms getting naked for the camera and performing enthusiastically in her sex scenes) and becomes tormented by thoughts that could involve him….the aforementioned suicide, with cut wrists bleeding out, and a face whose eyes are open but drained of life. A man’s photograph Hayden seems devoted to figures specifically in her overwhelming ecstasy while pleasuring herself when away from Kier. Details add up until the end results in bloodletting and revelations as Kier is startled and mortified at everything that transpires, having to come to a realization that he’s responsible for the violence happening towards and around him.

Linda Hayden is a desirable woman. That’s the painted canvas the camera does its damnedest to emulate. She’s a sexual dynamo and her masturbations will be an integral part of this film’s allure. Hayden’s body—the legs as the camera likes to capture them gradually, and the face wrought in orgasmic bliss—and presence are sensually seductive, and rightfully so. Not only that, but she’s enigmatic and seems to have secrets. I loved how I could sense a mystery about her, as if there are ulterior motives soon to surface. There just seems to be an agenda. Like when she plies him with booze and allows him to ramble on about paranoid feelings regarding those who are only interested in what he can do for them and protecting himself against adversarial types that might threaten him due to his fame. She lightly drinks and smokes a few cigarettes, remaining mostly silent, observing quietly and holding what I felt was a look of disdain and contempt.

This is a film loaded with the goods exploitation fans savor. Hayden is often naked and the look on her face while masturbating is quite convincing. Her body, as I mentioned before, is on display and she doesn't seem shy letting it be available for our ogling. The knife violence that we see and shot gun blasts is all blood basically, without the flesh-wound gore one might expect considering the weaponry. Fiona is also quite comfortable shedding her clothes when asked to. Kier is given an unlikable part. All the paranoia and pomposity doesn't help endear him to an audience. That air of superiority is thick and not exactly appealing. Kier can display real fear and terror, though, as evident at the end.

One of my cinematic fetishes is the look on women as they partake in self-pleasure, and I was quite aroused by Hayden. I found the film effective in establishing how delectable Hayden is and why a libido would become enamored by her when she spends time around you. It isn't a surprise Kier and Fiona would be drawn into her web. She has that kind of seductive power that is palpable and apparent. This film benefits substantially by her casting. This is her film, to be honest, but Kier, a cult film icon, has name value that will always benefit 70s trash, exploitation, and horror. House on Straw Hill is fortunate to have both Kier and Hayden. If you can find a copy, I think it will find its audience, although I don't believe this slow-moving tale will appeal to all tastes.