Deep End (1971)

Dir: Jerzy Skolimowski
TCM Broadcast

This aired on TCM's Underground recently along with Skolimowski's The Shout. Unfortunately my DVR crashed and burned before I had a chance to watch that one. I lost around twenty recorded movies this weekend but i digress. To get to the point at hand, Deep End is about a teenage boy, Mike, that takes a job at a bath house/indoor swimming pool and becomes obsessed with a slightly older female co-worker, Susan. He's an awkward guy that spurns the advances of the lonely older women that frequent the bath house. He seems to hold virginity in high regard, an idea reinforced when Mike (John Moulder-Brown) believes that Susan (Jane Asher) is promiscuous and thinks he even sees her likeness on a poster at a brothel. This is when his stalking turns to belligerence. He slashes her tire, insults her, and generally becomes a real creep. Certain events lead them to be alone and when Mike finally realizes that Susan has no interest in him, he strikes the final blow. It's an interesting film if ultimately not memorable and none of the characters are likable in the slightest making it something I doubt I would revisit. Skolimowski is a restrained and patient director, I would just rather see it applied to different subject matter.

6/10