Haunting of Julia / Shudder / Notes

 I had never heard of The Haunting of Julia (1977) -- Full Circle on Shudder -- until a podcaster championed it on his YouTube page I frequent. I scoured IMDb user comments and noticed in critics circles this was diminished by many as dull and lacking with criticism also lobbied against Farrow and her character. I make up my own mind and since I like these 70s and early 80s ghost films, particularly Straub related, I was willing to give this a shot.

The house Julia occupies -- the house with a history cliche these films have I always embrace wholeheartedly -- seems to have endless rooms and stairs that go on and bend or twist. It's well furnished, with lots of furniture and items left behind by previous owners, an aging structure with resilient bones, a bit bulky for a single owner. There is just something about inhabiting this space that has such a past to it. So much lived and died there. Portraits and paintings that remain on the walls, old wallpaper that belongs to a different era. Julia received a medium and others who love to enjoy seances after her sister-in-law asked to use the big apartment. Jill Bennett as the sister-in-law sort of leaves the film and never returns after that seance. The medium is so frightened by the memory of a murdered German boy, she can barely speak anymore once she "receives a possession" during that seance. I expected Bennett to be a victim of the ghoulish girl (who is recognized by the medium, and later by her elderly mother who admits to choking her to death for being an evil wicked thing, both telling Farrow to leave that house), much like Keir Dullea (the estranged husband who can't seem to get over the fact that his wife, Farrow, is done with the marriage).

Dullea's "capitalist" husband, who won't leave Farrow alone, reminds me of his obsessive character from Black Christmas (1974). He doesn't seem to get a clue that Farrow isn't in her house when he intrudes inside, only to find what we assume is the ghost girl's specter in the basement. He persists to get Farrow back on his side. Well the girl (not seen) freaks him out enough he falls backward, slitting his throat on broken glass. One of two remaining killers of the boy, mentioning to Farrow that the girl seemed to influence them to kill him trips while walking down the stairs, plunging to his death to the floor multiple flights. This girl, as Farrow mentions to her antiquities buddy, Conti, fills the house with hate...Farrow feels it and yet by the end she has her arms stretched outward, wanting her embrace. Instead, the little girl doesn't spare her anymore than anyone else.

A constant criticism of this film is the pace. I freely admit that this film isn't concerned with fast-moving through its story developments. There is a big story involving a malevolent spirit with a pretty face and innocent presence that ultimately yields death and destruction. Conti, who has done nothing to offer the girl any threat, is in his bathtub bathing when she "moves" a lamp into the water. Every act, including what we learn about her in life, is sinister. The music, interestingly enough, has this melodic, ethereal quality that would seem to indicate Farrow's Julia will bond with this spirit. All those warnings to just leave the damn home fall on deaf ears...or is that this yearning to bond with a girl who looks similar to her own lost daughter.

And that is an obvious undercurrent. Julia's daughter choking on apple, a knife tracheotomy by her failing to save the girl, that inability to stop this death is what haunts the main lead. The ghost only capitalizes on Julia's grief. The ending shouldn't be too shocking. 

Amazing this film took some time making it to America. Being a film based on a Straub story, you'd think The Haunting of Julia would be an ideal release in America.

4/5

The house itself and a scene involving the girl touching Julia's lips and holding her hand late at night really captured me the most. And that sense that nothing will come except tragedy to all really remains so strong throughout.