[13] Financed in Japan, directed
by a lady,inspired by an Edgar Allen Poe poem, and oozing Anne Rice-ness -
strange in many ways! Sands is the
title character, pining for a love lost last century, who finds a
replacement working in a dust-filled library, but he's also pursued by a
mysterious man with a grudge (Cranham). Sands seems born to the
role (Gothic was good experience, no doubt) and Cranham is a good foil:
together, with help from excellent cinematography, they overcome a script
with some glaring errors (I doubt many public libraries in London are open
till closing time) and the result, on a budget of less than a million
pounds, is striking. More Daughters of Darkness than The Lost Boys,
gore bores will hate it, but if your IQ is less lukewarm you could do a
great deal worse.
B-