If aliens arrived on Earth and wanted to understand the meaning of the word 'creepy,' I'd show them 'Bunny Lake is Missing.' I'm just not sure where I'd find it. Tragically, Otto Preminger's 1965 psychological thriller is MIA, just like its titular character.
I was lucky enough to see ... Read review
Production Year: 2002 - Thriller - Director: Bharat Nalluri, Rob Bailey, Andy Wilson - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Matthew MacFadyen, Keeley Hawes, David Oyelowo, Peter Firth, Jenny Agutter, Lisa Faulkner
Thriller - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Timothy West, Neil Morrissey, Tara Fitzgerald, Annette Crosbie, Pauline Quirke, Rob Brydon, Denise Van Outen, John Thomson, Kevin Whately, David Suchet
Advantages: memorable characters, cinematography, suspense Disadvantages: You can't find it anywhere
...She drops her four-year-old daughter Bunny off at a daycare centre, but when Ann goes to pick up her daughter that afternoon, Bunny is nowhere to be found. Things go from bad to worse for Ann as the police who are called in to investigate the case begin to question her sanity and wonder if her daughter was just a figment of her imagination.
When Ann returns home to try to find some of Bunny's things to give to the police for the search, ... ...school admit to having seeing Bunny either, as Ann dropped her off in a hurry and left her in the care of the cook. Thinking that Ann is insane, the police brush off the case, and Ann and Stephen Lake (Keir Dullea) are left to investigate on their own. Who is sane and who is crazy? What is real and what is imagined? First impressions often turn out to be completely wrong in this eerie tale.
If aliens arrived on Earth and wanted to understand the meaning of the word 'creepy,' I'd show them 'Bunny Lake is Missing.' I'm just not sure where I'd find it. Tragically, Otto Preminger's 1965 psychological thriller is MIA, just like its titular character.
I was lucky enough to see this fantastic movie in a film class and again in our university's film series. In between those two viewings, I also watched it on a bootleg VHS copy (purchased from eBay by my friend Jen) which was useless since the black and white cinematography of BLIM is so ravishingly beautiful. 'Bunny Lake' was filmed on location in London in anamorphic 35 millimetre with an aspect ratio of 2.35 to 1. So, if you see it playing at your local art house cinema, you should be first in the queue to buy tickets. Otherwise, you just have to hope it will be released on DVD one of these days.
Ann Lake (Carol Lynley) is a young American who has just moved to London. She drops her four-year-old daughter Bunny off at a daycare centre, but when Ann goes to pick up her daughter that afternoon, Bunny is nowhere to be found. Things go from bad to worse for Ann as the police who are called in to investigate the case begin to question her sanity and wonder if her daughter was just a figment of her imagination.
When Ann returns home to try to find some of Bunny's things to give to the police for the search, she finds that the girl's things have disappeared. None of the teachers at the school admit to having seeing Bunny either, as Ann dropped her off in a hurry and left her in the care of the cook. Thinking that Ann is insane, the police brush off the case, and Ann and Stephen Lake (Keir Dullea) are left to investigate on their own. Who is sane and who is crazy? What is real and what is imagined? First impressions often turn out to be completely wrong in this eerie tale.
The two top suspects in the case are the German cook in the nursery school, who quit that day after being left in charge of Bunny, and Ann and Stephen's extraordinarily creepy landlord Wilson (Noel Coward), whose flat is filled with sadomasochistic props and who speaks in riddles. Wilson has the keys to the Lakes' apartment and walks around with his Chihuahua, leaving African fertility masks around the house.
The only police officer who seems to believe that Bunny is a real girl is Superintendent Newhouse (Lawrence Olivier). In a memorable scene, Newhouse takes Ann out to a London pub and waxes philosophical as The Zombies play 'Just out of Reach' on the telly above the bar. The barman changes the channel from a news story on the missing girl to a Top of the Pops style program complete with screaming girls. Ultimately a scathing criticism of the coldness of modern society, 'Bunny Lake is Missing' shows that one cannot, in fact, rely on the kindness of strangers.
Stephen and Ann also interview a peculiar, witch-like old woman, who lives above the school. This retired teacher keeps tapes of children talking about their dreams, but can't provide any information regarding Bunny's whereabouts. She and Wilson both seem trapped in their own somewhat seedy worlds, and are remarkably calm in the face of the Lakes' crisis.
The old woman and the landlord's inflated performances are balanced by the understated acting of Lynley and Dullea, although Stephen gradually becomes more extreme as the film builds tension. Blonde Lynley seems slightly vacant and reminded me of the female characters in some of Alfred Hitchcock's films.
Desperate to prove that her daughter exists, Ann rushes to a doll hospital in SoHo. The ensuing scene is one of the most bizarre and disconcerting I have ever scene. The rows and rows of doll parts in a shop owned by a blind man epitomize creepy. This scene includes the first of two moments in the film that made many people in my film class scream audibly.
In this manipulative film about identity, you'll find, incest, innuendo, insanity, mod rockers, and characters that will make your hair stand on end. What more could you ask for?
UPDATE: Rumour has it that someone is going to remake 'Bunny Lake is Missing!' Unfortunately, it will star the insipid Reece Witherspoon, but I'm hoping that they'll re-release the original, as well.
Advantages: Amusing script, that's memory lasts longer than the story itself Disadvantages: Quirky British movie that has become a cult hit.
...very good film. And as Bunny Lake Is Missing has quite the cult following you can pretty much guarantee that the remake movie will be near on awful. But that's for tomorrow; today you can have the genuine article with its quirky characters; which I'm not sure a re-make will be able to deliver. Ann and Stephen Lake are preparing to move into their new apartment. On the day they move in, Ann takes daughter Bunny to her new school. Unable to find help ... ...and for Ann that's collecting Bunny from school. Upon arrival Ann is mortified to discover that nobody has seen Bunny, she has completely disappeared. Calling upon the police for assistance, they search high and low for Bunny but to no avail. Disturbingly Superintendent Newhouse the man heading up the disappearance begins to question whether Bunny actually existed at all. Before I dissect the movie I have to say, and I have not seen this illuminated ...
sghawken 14.05.2007
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Bunny Lake is Missing
Advantages: great script, cast Disadvantages: i can't think of any- see review
...on to the review of Bunny Lake Is Missing.
The story begins when Ann Lake(Carol Lynley), an American relocated in England, arrives to drop her daughter Bunny at a nursery school. She leaves Bunny in the care of a cook(Lucie Mannehiem) when no teachers are present.
When Ann returns, the cook has quit and Bunny is missing. The other employees deny seeing the child and Ann turns to her brother Stephen(Keir Dullea) for help. Ann never had a father ... ...her little girl's disappearance.
Bunny Lake Is Missing is an amazing work to view. The characters were intresting.Oliver's Newhouse never becomes boring. Keir Dullea as Stephen appears sinister. But Lynley playing the tortured Ann Lake who shied away from males becomes a main staple in this psychological thriller.
I recommend seeing this mesmerizing thriller on video or DVD. ...
kagito 29.05.2003
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Bunny Lake is Missing
Did you enjoy it?
Story
Characters / Performances
Special Effects
How does it compare to ...
Similar reviews »
Reviews which might be of interest for "Bunny Lake is Missing"
Advantages: Scary as hell, with great comic bits, and a terrific cast Disadvantages: Not for those who are scared really easily
?t have a horror film as we would see them today; sure, there was CARNIVAL OF SOULS, about a woman who survives a car accident but is being pursued by an unknown entity, and BUNNYLAKEISMISSING, which was about another psychotic individual. However, the modern horror film I think came with NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, and---to a lesser extent---Mario Bava?s TWITCH OF THE DEATH NERVE. Of course, most horror films of today borrow the exact same plot as Agatha Christie?s famous novel ?And Then There Were None? which had a group of characters being picked off one by one by a killer. While the original version of BLACK CHRISTMAS does follow that formula it does so with very little blood and a lot of atmosphere; released quietly in Canada in 1974, and it would slowly make its way around the rest of the world. If you ask any true horror film ...
Advantages: Perceptive dialogue, wonderful performances, superb directions equals to an outstanding film Disadvantages: nothing
with the parents, played by Kika Markham and Jack Shepard. (Trivia Note to OKkaroake: Kika Markham made her film debut as a nurse in your favorite film of all time, Otto Preminger?s BUNNYLAKEISMISSING.)
<<<<< Touches of Leigh and Anderson In A Kaleidoscope of Images >>>>>
While the structure is very similar to my vote for the best film of 1999, Paul Thomas Anderson?s MAGNOLIA, and the tone very similar to Mike Liegh?s work, this film exists in its own world. Filmed on a very low budget, with a shaky 16 MM camera, WONDERLAND manages to combine other contemporary filmmaking conventions, yet still manages to make it fresh and new. Actually this film, more than anything, has the look and feel of a documentary?and believes me when I say that you can?t get anymore true-to-life than that. Once in a while, the camera would shift to ...
eve6kicksass 06.02.2004
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Wonderland (DVD)
most people would take sitting on the pot with the sports page. Scientists soon discover a mysterious force beneath the lunar surface, and decide to go and investigate; they are stunned to discover a Monolith, though they have no idea of its origin. When astronauts touch the colossal artifact, they are soon greeted by a deafening noise which is really a radio signal being sent to Jupiter.
Determined to find out where the transmission ends and what its purpose is, five astronomers volunteer to take an expedition to Jupiter on a spaceship called the Discovery. There is the captain Dave Bowman (Keir Dullea, Black Christmas, BunnyLakeisMissing), and his first officer Frank Poole (Gary Lockwood, Splendor in the Grass), who are both overseeing operations while the other crew members are in hyper-sleep. Oh, yes, there is also the HAL ...
Thriller - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Timothy West, Neil Morrissey, Tara Fitzgerald, Annette Crosbie, Pauline Quirke, Rob Brydon, Denise Van Outen, John Thomson, Kevin Whately, David Suchet
Production Year: 2002 - Thriller - Director: K.C. Bascombe - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Jesse James, Rachel Skarsten, Charles Powell, Linda Purl, Kevin Zegars
Thriller - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Robert Powell, Jeremy Brett, John Le Mesurier, Patrick Troughton, Helen Mirren, Diana Dors, Charles Gray, Denholm Elliott, Brian Blessed
![Bunny Lake Is Missing [DVD] [1965] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/69760736.jpg "Bunny Lake Is Missing [DVD] [1965] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]")
