#robert stephens

The Duellists (1977)

Director - Ridley Scott, Cinematography - Frank Tidy

“You have kept me at your beck and call for fifteen years. I shall never again do what you demand of me. By every rule of single combat, from this moment your life belongs to me. Is that not correct? Then I shall simply declare you dead. In all of your dealings with me, you’ll do me the courtesy to conduct yourself as a dead man. I have submitted to your notions of honor long enough. You will now submit to mine.”

At least The Asphyx has a title that makes you sit up and take notice. A 1972 British horror film set in late-Victorian England (and, wouldn’t you know it, the subject of my new Grand Old Movies post–for Halloween, yet), it’s a little mild with the scares but it seethes with ideas. Starting with the notion that there exists a death-seeking spirit coming to fetch one at the moment of passing, it dives into a rather morbid little tale confounding mad science, Greek mythology, spirit photography, an obsession with immortality, and the invention of an early film camera. That last is not actually remarked upon in the film but just happens to be there, operated by the protagonist, a country squire who dabbles in making things. These objects include, along with the camera, such domestic devices as a guillotine, a gas chamber, and an electric chair–some years before electricity was even installed in homes. All in the cause of trapping the Asphyx before it traps you. Like its title, the film is both weird and unique, anchored by the robust performance of Robert Stephens as the eternity-seeking squire. It may not be the most memorable horror film, but it certainly has its moments, especially one of Stephens undergoing a self-administered electrocution. What one won’t do for Science. Click here to read my post. And Happy Halloween.