The Corruption Of Chris Miller

The Corruption of Chris Miller (La Corrupcion De Chris Miller) (1973)

Runtime: 113 minutes

Directed by: Juan Antonio Bardem

Starring: Jean Seberg, Marisol, Barry Stokes, Perla Cristal, Rudy Gaebel

From: Xavier Armet P.C.

There are many different niches in the film world I need to do a deeper dive on. This includes the likes of “Indian movies”, “Pre-Code”, “Krimi” and a few different actors/directors. Two of those happen to be “Movies from Spain” and “Giallo flicks”. This fits both, although it's more a giallo influence or perhaps it's like one from the 60's which is mostly a blind spot for me. The director being Juan Antonio Bardem-a director I'd seen only once before, the serious 50's drama Death of a Cyclist-intrigued as this was far from a serious drama. Yes, Javier is his nephew. Before Vinegar Syndrome nicely restored this then released it, apparently this was impossible to find outside of Spain so shoutout to them.

What a peculiar movie this is. Jean Seburg plays the stepmother of a young adult-played by Marisol, who I understand was a child star in the past but between her bra-less fashion sense and wearing a skimpy bikini in one scene was not portrayed as a chaste child star grown up-and they are residing in a villa after Jean's husband abandoned them. Note that Marisol's character is actually the Chris Miller in question. A handsome young Englishman who is wandering around Europe ends up there one night and this results in friction.

There's one heck of a cold open. A bitchy woman yells at some random dude who was a one night stand and is... dressed as The Tramp, complete w/ Charlie Chaplin mask?! Later there's an explanation but you haven't lived until you see a Tramp cosplay brutally murder a woman. After that there is a LONG stretch where it is a trashy drama-yet despite a lull or two overall it was amusing due to the sleaze factor. Then it goes from 0-100 as for a few minutes it turns into a slasher that feels much more modern. In the final act there's a protracted death so at least the kills do deliver.

Overall, this was an oddity that managed to entertain me. Solid direction, fine performances (even from Seberg; I put it that way as I understand she was not a fan of how sleazy it was but she needed the paycheck), a quirky score that fit & scenic rural Spain meant that this was fun for something I would have never known existed if Vinegar Syndrome did not rescue it from obscurity.