What the Peeper Saw (1972)
"Diabólica malicia" (original title)

An wealthy author's second wife begins to suspect her 12-year old stepson may have murdered his mother whom mysteriously died in a bathtub accident.

Directors:

James Kelley, Andrea Bianchi

Writers:

Andrea Bianchi, Erich Kröhnke (story),

Stars:

Mark Lester, Britt Ekland, Hardy Krüger

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Mark Lester	...	Marcus
Britt Ekland	...	Elise
Hardy Krüger	...	Paul
Lilli Palmer	...	Dr. Viorne
Harry Andrews	...	Headmaster
Conchita Montes	...	Sophie
Colette Giacobine	...	Sarah (as Collette Jack)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ricardo Palacios
Emilio Rodríguez
Ricardo Valle

Storyline

In this stylish and atmospheric psychological thriller reminiscent of Henry James's Turn of the Screw, a widowed English writer brings a young, glamorous new bride to his bleak, isolated home in rural Spain. She soon becomes obsessed with her 12-year old stepson, who she learns has just been expelled from school for mysterious offenses; while the boy enjoys, exploits, and feeds her increasing paranoia about him. That he is a brilliant and lonely child is obvious. But is he the victim of a neurotic woman's overwrought imagination-- in Shakespeare's words, the innocent flower, or the serpent under it?

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Plot Keywords:

expelled from school | spain | boy | striptease | nudity | 

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Taglines:

What he saw is what he did.

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller | Horror

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

Spain UK Italy West Germany

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

1971 (UK)

Also Known As:

Night Child

Filming Locations:

Madrid, Spain

Box Office

Gross:

ESP 19,904,254 (Spain)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cemo Film, Corona Filmproduktion, Eguiluz Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min 95 min (uncut)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The three Chelsea FC players whose pictures are on Marcus' bedroom wall are club legends, Peter Bonetti (goalkeeper) and strikers Ian Hutchinson and Peter Osgood.

User Reviews

tense and quirky thriller

This is one of Britt Eckland's earlier films and was largely ignored on release in the UK, as it was support film for 'Don't Look Back', with Donald Sutherland.

The plot is convoluted and somewhat difficult to follow.

Ther is in the uncut version a considerable amount of nudity, and at the time a certain controversy was a stirred up. Britt Eckland is often naked when the 12 yr old boy is present,on shot, and in one scene, the boy sits in a chair and makes her perform a full strip in front of him, her genital region only obscured by the boy's head. For nude rear scenes, a body-double was used for Britt Eckland's character, as was often the case with Eckland.