Other Titles • Wait Until Dark • Warte, bis es dunkel ist (1968)
Synopses for Wait Until Dark (1967)
1.
Audrey Hepburn's last Oscar nomination was for this adaptation of Frederick Knott's famed stage thriller about a blind woman, a con man (Alan Arkin), and a doll full of heroin. Thanks to Hepburn's husband, a photographer who does a good deal of traveling, she's unknowingly come into possession of said doll, which was given to him on a plane by a comely young drug runner who winds up dead. The murderous Arkin, aided by sympathetic henchman Richard Crenna, will let nothing stand in the way of his obtaining it, even if it comes down to assaying multiple "personalities" in order to visit and terrorize Hepburn; Crenna is unwillingly enlisted to help. However, the "world's champion blind lady" (as Hepburn sardonically states) is more than up to the task of defending herself in her basement Manhattan apartment in a heart-stopping climax that to this day still defines the way horror movies with jack-in-the-box psychos are made. Despite the obvious staginess of it all (the entire action takes place in Hepburn's apartment), it still works magnificently, thanks to Hepburn's steely will and Arkin's deadly, sadistic madman. A helpful hint: turn out all the lights when you watch it; theaters back in 1967 did so, killing the guiding lights during the film's last 15 minutes. We can't tell you why, but trust us, it's worth it. --Mark Englehart
(10 votes)
2.
This thriller about a blind woman terrorized by in her own home builds to a crescendo of high suspense. A doll containing a fortune in heroin is planted in Susy Hendrix' apartment and a ruthless criminal is desperate to get his hands on it. Through a series of ruses, the guy manages to get rid Susy's husband and trap her alone in the apartment. But as their spine-chilling cat and mouse game reaches its climax, his blind victim proves to be an elusive and formidable match.
(10 votes)
3.
The blinds moving up and down...the squeaking shoes...and then the knife whistling past her ear...
Now two are left: Susy, recently blinded and still learning how to live in a sighted world, and Roat, a psychopathic killer. Roat wants a heroin-stuffed doll he thinks Susy has. All Susy wants is to survive.
Dim the lights, check the door's chain-lock, and brace yourself for a chiller as polished as the steel of Roat's blade. Audrey Hepburn earned her fifth Academy Award nomination as Susy. Alan Arkin is pure evil as Roat, master of disguise and accents. Jack Weston and Richard Crenna co-star as his henchmen. Building to a heart-pounding one-on-one confrontation, Wait Until Dark "belongs to the screen's most memorable thrillers." (David Shipman, The Story of Cinema).
(10 votes)
Mooviees.com is not the official site for this film.
All editorial views and opinions expressed here are for entertainment purposes only.
<>
Movie Database
In Theaters
