Blake Edwards generally evokes memories of Pink Panther or Breakfast at Tiffany's, but he did make a suspense film with '62's Experiment in Terror (on VHS at La Boîte Noire on St-Denis only).

There are certainly some gripping moments, especially in the film's opening moments, in which star Lee Remick (playing an unwitting bank teller) is accosted in her garage and told that she must siphon money out of the bank's account or she'll be killed. She must then contact the police without letting her stalker know that she's doing so. Luckily, the virtuous cop Glenn Ford is around to track down the baddie. The cast is exceptional, especially Ross Martin as the murderous asthmatic, and seeing an extremely young Stefanie Powers (as Remick's kid sister) is a kick. But pacing certainly has changed over the years and, I would suggest after sitting through this, for the better. Apparently, bank extortion, kidnapping and murder took much, much longer in the early '60s.

The DVD of Grey Gardens has finally arrived in Canada (that took way, way too long). This is a brilliant example of cinema vérité at its best--and most controversial. A rather insane mother and daughter decay in the middle of their decaying estate, as the filmmakers look on. Bizarre, freakish, undeniably compelling--a film that entirely blew me away.

--Matthew Hays