Classic Horrors Club

Mousey (1974) doesn’t feel like a made-for-television movie. In fact, it was released theatrically in the UK, Australia, Italy, and Denmark, where it was known as Cat & Mouse. I couldn’t find much about its origins, but there’s got to be a story to explain the melting pot of production contributors.

It’s a joint US/UK production filmed largely in Canada, but also at Pinewood Studios in England. It’s produced by Aida Young, who produced (or associate produced) at least nine Hammer films between 1965 and 1971. It was written by John Peacock, who wrote two Hammer films: Straight on Till Morning (1972) and To The Devil a Daughter (1975.)

The score was written by Ron Grainer bringing diversity from Disney (The Moon-Spinners, 1964), television (The Prisoner, 1967-68) and sci-fi/horror (The Omega Man, 1971.) For my friend, Richard, I have to mention he composed a lot of music for Doctor Who, perhaps even its theme song. (Sorry, I’m not a Whovian, or whatever they’re called.)

SPOILER ALERT!

The oddest thing for me, though, is a climactic plot twist that pre-dates When a Stranger Calls by five years and, in some ways, does it better. Just like when I watch that movie, my interest in the associated urban legend, “the babysitter and the man upstairs” grows exponentially. (Has anyone seen the 1971 short film, Foster’s Release?”)

Mousey is a slow burn with a simple plot. For reasons we learn piecemeal throughout the 85-minute running time, George Anderson (Kirk Douglas) a high school teacher ridiculed by faculty and students, reaches his breaking point and terrorizes his ex-wife, Laura (Jean Seberg), and her new fiancee. So meek is he that we may not realize his potential until…

…he tells a bartender about his nickname. When the bartender cuts him off and calls him Mousey, Anderson explodes, exclaiming, “I’m no mouse!” This is when the spark ignites and he enacts his vengeance through a plan about which we learn barely before the other characters. I was held in suspense most of the time.

I’m a little murky on the details of Straw Dogs, but I know the poster features Dustin Hoffman wearing glasses with a broken lens. Well, Anderson shatters one of his lenses and continues to wear the glasses throughout the movie, a metaphor for the fact the he’s also cracking. He’s a clever and dangerous character, and it’s a clever and dangerous story.

 John Vernon plays Laura’s fiancee. It’s hard for me to distance him from Dean Vernon Wormer (“…as of this moment, they’re on DOUBLE SECRET PROBATION!”) in National Lampoon’s Animal House (1978), but he’s really good here. Sam Wanamaker also appears near the end as “Inspector” when Anderson starts slicing throats with a straight razor.

This isn’t the best movie or TV movie I’ve seen, but it was a pleasant surprise that I didn’t begin to anticipate. Stick with it… invest a little time up front and the return will be exponential. And, if you find newspaper clippings about straight razor murders on your bed, Mousey provides the lesson that you should probably just get out of the house.