Ruby (1977)

   

Directed by: Curtis Harrington 

Written by: George Edwards & Barry Schneider

Executive Produced & Story by: Steve Krantz

Starring:

Piper Laurie .... Ruby Claire
Stuart Whitman .... Vince Kemper
Roger Davis .... Dr. Paul Keller 
Janit Baldwin .... Leslie Claire 
Crystin Sinclaire .... Lila June 

Release Date: Theatrical: June 23, 1977 

*Images courtesy at: www.horrorhomeroom.com


   

 

Rating:

 

Ruby Claire (Piper Laurie) experienced her boyfriend killed by gangsters in a swamp and sixteen years later owns a drive in theatre with her boyfriend Vince Kemper (Stuart Whitman) but a series of gruesome murders takes place there with a strong force and Ruby hears the voice of her dead boyfriend coming to get her as her mute daughter Leslie (Janit Baldwin) is slowly becoming possessed and starting to terrorise her.

 

There's a very dull prologue which involves the title character Ruby Claire with her boyfriend Nicky Rocco having a romance in a swampy area as it looks like the setting of a silent film but in color which is the only difference as I couldn't wait till it got to the present day story with all still moments between them but yet the moment breaks when a mob starts to shoot this man which looked mildly intense and a bit horrific. 
Then we have moments with people paying to get into the drive in taking place years later with Vince Kemper charging people along with a moment on a family trying to sneak their kid in which seemed to look awfully corny.
Yet during the moments at the drive in I found an amusing moment with a broad Lila June showing attitude towards some bikers as well as a discussion with another person which seemed to have caught my attention in a good way.
Also spot a moment with someone working in the screening department spotting objects moving or falling off which seemed cheesy haunting like which could've looked a little more convincing.
Yet a nice attention grabber in a certain part of the story with Ruby talking to an old man in a wheelchair as well as thinking she's talking to her dead boyfriend and acting crazy about it as this looked a bit mad and nicely put into the storyline without a doubt.
Also a nice situation when sokeone tries to act forceful towards Lila and pins her to the ground near a swamp as you wonder if something intense will happen as well later on there's a moment with an evil force smacking this guy later on and objects dragging him. This looked spooky to watch.
A nice drawn in moment with the mute daughter Leslie Claire being happy wandering around the same area in the day time with a well focused camera shot on her spotting a corpse hung from a tree and changing her moods as well as a =n effective moment with Vince catching her there as well as him talking to her which was well done.
Plus a good moment between Ruby getting aggressive towards Vince when driving near the swampy area as this looked convincingly dysfunctional to watch as well as good shots on the foggy swamp area with them dumping the dead body into the water. A nice touch here.
A nice dark funny moment when a kid tries to get soda from a machine and it doesn't work and spots a dead body inside of it and him telling his Mom about it with her response that he's not to watch anymore horror movies as this gave me some chuckles and then a gross moment when another customer pays for a drink and it pours out blood and she tastes it with her reacting to it. Seemed to show nice timing for the comedic and sickness used with these characters for this scene.
A near effective moment is when Ruby hallucinates thinking that she is seeing her dead boyfriend walking near her in her room and then he vanishes but needed a bit more inspiration. Still a bit creepy and strange to watch.
Yet it gets better as we have Ruby outside of the drive in after hours and hear the voices of her dead husband through the speakers of the parking lots call her name which was classy and spooky looking. 
Also a great moment when she goes up in the attic and spots Leslie possessed and trying to strangle her with the voice of Ruby's boyfriend as this works in an average manner. It was slightly cheesy but mainly due to it's low budget.
A nice moment when Dr. Paul Keller tries to talk to Leslie lying in bed and she tries to answer as well as later on her face looking bloodily shot and then changes to Ruby's husband as this psyched me out a bit and making it look bizarre by what is happening here. 
Later on we spot some more possessive moments with Leslie in her bed which looked creepy to watch and well done too.
Also at the drive in a nice moment on the movie screen revealing her husband talking to her with the people in the car boggled about all of this as this looked strange along with a nice wind storm happening later on leaving a nice haunting touch to the story as well as spotting a murder scene on the screen as this was strange to watch.
The ending was creepy that involved Ruby going to the swamp and falling into the water but won't give it away. All in all it was perfectly twisted.
Bottom line is that this was a strange tale and seemed to borrow heavily from The Exorcist. It also paid tributes to other supernatural horror flicks too. A bit cheesy to watch and needed a bit more inspiration. Some of it was well done and made on a low budget. It can be a bit of a drag at times though.

The acting is well perfoemed in which we have Piper Laurie (Ruby Claire) in the title role as some of her performances seem almost similar to her work in Carrie but shows a bit more spunk and less intimidating too. Offered a strange eccentric and obsessive behavior as well as showing good energetic moments on her having a nervous breakdown or acting anxious whenever she needed to behave this way. Also does greatly with her dysfunctional and aggressive atttiude too which shines off well. She was on the ball with her role.
Stuart Whitman (Vince Kemper) does well with his laid back attitude but yet knew how to run a business with his assertive behavior. This was drawn in nicely. Does well with his calm behavior and shows it off well. Also does well acting sympathetic when someone's upset which shines off greatly too by what he does here. 
Roger Davis (Dr. Paul Keller) was one of the best cast members in this flick having a smart and sharp type of behavior within everything that he did here. I found that he does well with his speaking and showing a great aptient type of behavior and shows off some good energy and enthusiasm. He got into this with no criticism. A true character actor indeed. 
Janit Baldwin (Leslie Claire) certainly had a true mysterious presence to her role as someone whom is mute and seemed convincing by behaving this way as well as showing some nice disturbed expressions when necessary and a good fearful attitude too. Plus does a nice job acting possessed just going wild and aggressive. She for sure shows off a nice old fashioned type of horror character. 
Crystin Sinclaire (Lila June) didn't have a huge role in the film but thought that I'd mention her regardless since she offers a nice slutty and arrogant type of behavior and showing great atttiude along with her expressions too. She draws it out greatly within whatever she did. Also does well with her anxious atttiude when she is being forced upon as she gets into this nicely as well.

A persons face and body is bloodily shot 
A sharp metal object is imapled in someone's body 
A bloodied face is revealed 
Man in a wheelchair is bloodily stabbed and his eyes plucked out

The music seems to flow in quite well with some sad violin playing in many spots as well as the effective skay types too for when the terror lashes out. Plus we have some low sounds of creepy music to blend in which was catchy. Plus some piano playing here and there along with peaceful music for the uplifting moments as this sounds pretty decent too. All of this was put together by Don Ellis.