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Ruby (1977)

Dir: Curtis Harrington.

Curtis Harrington's little seen and underrated shocker may not be ground shaking but it deserves a better reputation than time and the censored, re-edited U.S TV version has given it.

Ruby Claire (Piper Laurie, a year after receiving her Oscar nomination for De Palma's "Carrie") is a gangsters moll, and a failed movie actress. She is used by the mob to entrap men and lead them into ambushes…a bullet in the head while otherwise engaged as it were. But she falls in love with a new gang member named Nicky Rocco (Sal Vacchio) and becomes pregnant. The mob boss, Jake, jealous of Nicky has him ambushed by the gang in the swamp (who each put a bullet in him) while he is with Ruby. Ruby believes he died thinking she set him up.

16 years later, Ruby now has a mute daughter named Leslie (Janit Baldwin) and runs, from her huge, run-down house that overlooks it, a sleazy, ram-shackle drive-in. She has loyally stood by the gang members, despite their killing of Nicky, and given them jobs at the drive-in, after they have served various prison terms. Even the now crippled and wasted Jake is kept around slumped in a wheelchair. Her main helper at running everything is Vince (Stuart Whitman), a gang member who has been quietly in love with Ruby for years.

But the gang members are suddenly being killed in mysterious ways (hung from a roof with film, slammed up into trees) and Ruby who starts to have visions of the bullet riddled Nicky, slowly loses her frail grip on sanity. In desperation, Vince calls in Dr. Keller, (Roger Davis) a Parapsychologist to help, but Nickys' revenge has only just begun...

Harrington (who mainly worked in TV, making such fare as "The Killer Bees", but also directed the occasional theatrical release like "Who Slew Auntie Roo") does a good job in creating a feeling of loss and failure that hangs over the characters. Their tragic clinging to the past and to dreams that might have been is very similar to that classic film of the aging grotesque "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane" and also "Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte". Piper Laurie (who was sadly much underused in films after "Carrie", even her appearance in Argento's troubled "Trauma" turned out to be a career mis-fire, and was perhaps best served in Lynch's legendary TV show "Twin Peaks") does a fantastic job in essaying a tragic woman who, despite playing the tough boss, is one of life's victims.

Bitter and hard as a character she may be, her slips into wistful reminiscences show us how deep the feeling of loss actually eats into her. Her descent into madness is portrayed with commendable seriousness as well, only occasionally dipping into camp. Laurie commendably gives Ruby as much dignity as she can. Whitman (who's genre credits go from "Night of the Lepus", the tragic last film of Hollywood star Laurence Harvey "Welcome to Arrow Beach" all the way to Tobe Hooper's "Eaten Alive") also gives a carefully restrained performance as the sad Vince.

Keeping loyal to Jake and Nicky, he never declared his love for Ruby, and even now after all these years Ruby never really shows him kindness. Instead she barks orders at him and we also learn that the only physical closeness to Ruby he is allowed is when she 'feels lonely'. But he loves Leslie as his own and is always there when Ruby needs him.

Davis (from TV's cult supernatural show "Dark Shadows") is also fine as Dr. Keller. Yet again giving a serious performance even when the story moves into dodgy, overly theatrical "Exorcist" rip off territory as Leslie becomes possessed.

Baldwin (who has worked little, but appeared in, the almost forgotten 80's slasher "Humongous") is doe eyes for most of the film, as she drifts around in a stupor. But she at least comes into her own during the cheesy possession scenes, that include all the staple possession ingredients like changed facial appearance, speaking in another voice and the much painful back arching on the bed.

The murders are handled quite well, but are not overly memorable, with only the tree death using the possibilities of the supernatural to any great effect. The gore is minimal, but there is some effectively creepy make-up on the dead men's faces. And it's these sequences that really show up the films low budget. There is a nicely gruesome 'unavailing' near the end though, where we learn what Ruby keeps in a covered jar! Even this mild gore was trimmed for its U.S. TV showings, with extra dialogue scenes added to pad the running time. It comes as no surprise to learn that this version is credited to good old Alan Smithee.

Sadly it's in the drive-in atmosphere where the movie falls down. While the gothic decay is well handled in the house scenes and the characters themselves, the drive-in is short changed. We are show very little of the place and when we do it's simply a white screen (with "Attack of the 50ft Woman" superimposed over it) with the exact same, single car parked underneath it! Whoever is in the car must be a fanatical drive-in fan…as they obviously never leave!

So it's no classic, far from it, but "Ruby" deserves to be re-evaluated and discovered by newer horror fans, as it's a solid piece of 70's low budget cinema with a fine cast, some lovely performances, and a nice feeling of creeping decay.