Ruby (1977)

Director:

Curtis Harrington

Writers:

George Edwards (writer)
Steve Krantz (story)

Release Date:

21 November 1977 (Sweden)

Genre:

Drama | Horror

Tagline:

A love affair with the supernatural.

Plot:

Sixteen years after Ruby Claire's gangster boyfriend was shot and killed by four associates, a series...

Plot Keywords:

Drive In | Gangster | Revenge | Nostalgia | Ghost

Cast

Piper Laurie	...	Ruby Claire
Stuart Whitman	...	Vince Kemper
Roger Davis	...	Dr. Paul Keller
Janit Baldwin	...	Leslie Claire
Sal Vecchio	...	Nicky Rocco
Paul Kent	...	Louie
Len Lesser	...	Barney
Crystin Sinclaire	...	Lila June
Jack Perkins	...	Avery
Eddy Donno	...	Jess (as Edward Donno)
Fred Kohler Jr.	...	Jake Miller
Rory Stevens	...	Donny
Raymond Kark	...	1st Man
Jan Burrell	...	1st Woman
Kip Gillespie	...	Herbie

Also Known As:

Blood Ruby

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Norway:16 | Argentina:18 (re-rating) | Argentina:X (original rating) | Australia:R | Finland:K-18 (cut) (1977) | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R

Trivia:

Includes a scene reworking the "spider-walk" sequence cut from the original version of The Exorcist (1973).

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Set in 1951, the drive-in shows Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958) seven years too early.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Alien Space Avenger (1989)

Soundtrack:

Love's So Easy

Interesting misfire, still worth a mention

"Ruby" will stick with you after viewing it, not because it's a great movie, but because you may be wondering what the hell happened between the beginning and the end.

Director Curtis Harrington was going for a lot of subtle horror in the bizarre story of a former gangster moll named Ruby Claire (Piper Laurie). In the movie's prologue, a pregnant Ruby (displaying the characteristics of a bad mother already by drinking champagne while she's obviously ready to pop any day now) witnesses her lover being gunned down by the members of his own gang of hoods, a traumatic experience that immediately sends Ruby into labor. Or at least makes her moan and clutch her belly.

Naturally the thing to do at this point would be to open a drive-in theater and hire the men who killed your boyfriend as employees, which is exactly what Ruby does. As the film flashes forward sixteen years, we understand that Ruby's daughter, Leslie, is mute and has a bug-eyed expression on her face all the time. She's also showing signs of being possessed by the spirit of Ruby's long-dead lover, who has apparently returned to have his revenge on the now-old guys who shot him to death.

The funny thing about "Ruby" is that it seems like half the picture is missing. There isn't much exposition about who the remaining gang members are, and why we should care when invisible forces slap them around and cause them to hang from whatever's convenient. The reason for the execution at the beginning of the film isn't clear until the conclusion, and even then it's a little murky. We also never really understand why Ruby is so intent on taking care of the men who gunned down her lover in cold blood.

There's a parapsychologist involved in all of this, just so we know what's going on, because without him it would be impossible to understand. He deduces that Leslie's strange behavior (bending over backwards in bed, speaking in a man's voice) is the result of her dead father's spirit possessing her. However, Leslie isn't ever really connected to the events at all. The murders happen when she's not around. There's no real reason for her to be in this movie at all; after all, it's called "Ruby", not "Leslie". The movie is about Ruby and her long-lost lover, and it seems as if the daughter was thrown into the script as an afterthought.

Much is made of the film's abrupt conclusion, which features Ruby willingly walking into a swamp with the apparition of her dead boyfriend, who then suddenly turns into a skeleton and pulls her underneath the water. Apparently the original idea was to have Ruby just disappear under the water, which would have been the more intriguing way to go. But even that wouldn't have changed the fact that "Ruby" isn't very successful. There are only a few creepy scenes in the movie, one of which features Ruby wandering in the deserted theater lot while her lover's voice whispers to her over the drive-in speakers.

There are some great sets, like the drive-in and Ruby's house, and the fact that it's a period piece is great, too. The photography is always interesting. But there is no payoff in this movie. No real shocks, and the ridiculous ending (forced on the film by the producers) mars the whole thing even further. By upping the shock factor and taking care of that problem with the ending, this could have been an atmospheric classic along the lines of "Suspiria". As it stands, it's a minor cult item that goes nowhere.