18 April 2024
Ruby (1977)
85 min.
Directed by Curtis Harrington.
With Piper Laurie, Stuart Whitman, Roger Davis, Janit Baldwin, Crystin Sinclair, Len Lesser.
Piper Laurie quickly followed up her Oscar-nominated turn in Brian De Palma's Carrie (1976) with a starring role in yet another horror flick.

She's terrific as Ruby Claire, the owner of a drive-in whose lover was killed by gangsters. His vengeful spirit possesses their 16 year-old daughter Leslie (Baldwin), and his killers are murdered one by one.

Director Curtis Harrington does a good job with this convoluted story, but we've only seen the edited TV version.

Unfortunately, some of the violent scenes were edited out and talky scenes were inserted instead.

Still, there's a wistful nostalgia that runs through Ruby - thanks in no small part to Harrington's soft focus approach - that lends the low budget effort an interesting, bittersweet quality.

Worth a watch.

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