Wednesday, 14 March 2018

Mumsy, Nanny, Sonny and Girly (1970) - Film Review


Sometimes when digging around YouTube you come across a hidden diamond something I had not seen before. The odd sense of humour of "Mumsy, Nanny, Sonny and Girly" aka "Girly" is an excellently audacious combination of distorted black humour and macabre horror capped off in a very mannered approach.

It's twisted deliciously warped and strangely unique, as the compelling story pulls you in and never lets, you get truly comfortable because of its beaming cruel streak and teasingly sexual seduction. It's like some happy-shinny family drama, but under that make-up its lunacy gone mad in what is a deeply disturbed, but very united family until a new friend comes.

Two sibling children Girly and Sonny look to be in their twenties but dress and act like schoolkids in full uniform. They go out looking for new friends to play games with and they would bring them back home to meet Nanny and their Mumsy. However, there's something dangerously eccentric about this family they have a sideline in killing their new friend.

Girly and Sonny come across a boyfriend and girlfriend leaving a party and persuade them to come to their favourite place, the playground. They soon despatch the girlfriend and take the boyfriend home to Nanny and Mumsy as their new friend. The new friend learns he might just have to follow their rules and play their games while scheming some sort of plan if he has any chance of getting out of this nightmare alive.

He sets about seducing Girly, Nanny and Mumsy and the three are soon talking and plotting against Sonny who is suddenly kill by Girly.

Director Freddie Francis who was a prolific British horror lets it slowly unwind in a large remote Victorian mansion estate, but this only makes the atmosphere even more jarring and disquieting with its playful jolts and character manipulations. The cheeky script is a treat on words, astute and sharp with plenty of innuendo. There's an outstanding array of character performances led largely by the ever-sultry Vanessa Howard as the miniskirt wearing Girly.

A solid Michael Bryant brings the right temperament to balance out the insanity, as the new friend or better put a playmate for the children but also the for the ladies of the house. He learns the only way to really dig himself out is to be playing the games and following the rules, but in a cunning manner. So the toy begins to toy around. This whole nature makes it quite unpredictable. Ursula Howells is superb, with a slightly unsettling air to her proudly calm Mumsy figure. Howard Trevor brings edginess to his troublesome Sonny character and Pat Heywood is good as Nanny.

A crudely sinister, but highly amusing and imaginative black horror comedy curiosity is what we have here which I enjoyed.

My Rating

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