Secret Ceremony / Deep End

SECRET CEREMONY, 1968, Universal, 109 min. Director Joseph Losey’s bizarre psychological suspenser features Mia Farrow as a disturbed, orphaned young woman and Elizabeth Taylor as the prostitute who pretends to be her mother. At first, the two find only a superficial resemblance to lost loved ones, but gradually the pair assume their roles for real. However, when Robert Mitchum as Farrow’s stepfather is stirred into the brew, things get considerably stranger. Everyday habits and household items gradually assume a ritual significance, and Taylor and Farrow’s weird relationship lurches toward a frightening and uncertain future.

DEEP END, 1971, Paramount, 88 min. Polish director Jerzy Skolimowski captures the sense of impending dread and spiritual breakdown at the end of the ‘60s like no other movie. John Moulder-Brown stars as an innocent teenage psychopath working in a public bathhouse who becomes obsessed with doe-eyed Jane Asher, with shocking results.