I found this to be a very scary movie. From the first time I saw Joe Hilditch (Bob Hoskins) helping the innocent Felicia (Elaine Cassidy) after she had arrived nervously from Ireland, I felt uneasy. When I saw him with his eyeglass eating such a lovingly prepared meal by himself, I felt more uneasy. When I saw him look in the side-view mirror watching Felicia walk away to find Johnny (Peter McDonald), I felt even more uneasy. However, the confirmation that he was indeed a predator was when we saw the clip of Felicia unburdening herself to him...and then clips of multiple girls doing the same and realizing that those girls had not survived. From there, we are in the thrall of terror, wondering what will be Felicia's fate. We know if she remains in Hilditch's orbit that she is destined for a terrible ending. In spite of knowing Hilditch's true character well before the end of the movie, it does not deter us from being interested in how the movie turns out because director Atom Egoyan has spun such a suspenseful web.This is really a wonderfully terrifying movie. Bob Hoskins is terrifying, Egoyan is wonderful, Elaine Cassidy is good as the naive Irish girl. If you want a good scare that will stay with you, check out this movie.

Atom Egoyan's film Felicia's Journey takes various issues into its hands by telling the story of a young Irish girl looking for her Irish boyfriend who joined the British army. Her father strongly disapproves of this relationship and in the end abandons her completely. She goes to England, by herself, relying on the kindness of a middle aged chef Joe,(Bob Hoskins), in order find her boyfriend. Joe's obsession is watching an old show with an eccentric French cook, and copying her complicated recipes. He is slowly unmasked as a serial stalker of vulnerable young women, that were in similar cases of Felicia's.The film is set in a very grim and grey-clouded world where parents systematically abuse, neglect, disown or molest their children, or simply try to control their children like puppets and as a result, they either get killed or become killers. Joe's mother, the French cook, basically failed as a mother by neglecting him and abused him by shoving stuffing in his mouth when he made a mistake while helping her on her TV show. Joe's victims seem to come from all sorts of backgrounds, all with one similarity, they come from a hard family lives. Joe is ultimately a victim like Felicia and all those who have been left to fend for themselves in a harsh and cruel world, which is the sad case of reality in many families around the world.The director does the right thing in concentrating on the character's emotions rather than pull the same old boring thriller/horror situations you find in so many American movies. Many films rely on the action, rather than the humanity of characters, which is why so many of the films nowadays are unfortunately just plain weak.

A naive young Irish girl travels to England to find her boyfriend, who has gone there to find work. Unable to find him she meets a kind catering manager Joe Hilditch,(Bob Hoskins) who helps her find lodgings. They keep meeting up and he continues to help her in her search, Felicia tells him her story and that she is pregnant, he offers advice and offers to assist in getting an abortion, Felicia downbeat at not being able to find her beau, agrees. Recuperating in Hilditch'a house she doesn't realize the danger she is in. A very unusual film indeed, to the untrained eye it might seem like a period piece, as the music, clothes, cars etc would point in that direction, but it is a contemporary setting with wholesale old fashioned values. Hoskins is superb as the killer who films his victims before they die, the scenes where he relaxes by cooking to old tapes of his celebrity cook mother, gradually reveal where it all went wrong for him. Against this there are also flashbacks to Felicia's home town, where we learn of her development and her blossoming relationship is revealed along with her father's dislike of said friendship. An odd but totally intriguing film.

I think I saw a trailer for this film, and I wondered what it was about, and since it was four stars from the critics I thought I'd give it a go. Basically middle-aged catering manager Joe Hilditch (Bob Hoskins) spends all his time studying tapes of eccentric French TV chef Gala (Arsinée Khanjian), and following her recipes. Meanwhile, young woman Felicia (Elaine Cassidy) is making her way from Irelandto find her boyfriend Johnny Lysaght (Peter McDonald), who moved to England to work in a lawnmower factory. On arrival, she briefly meets Hilditch, who recommends a boarding room to her, oh, and we see more of her relationship with Johnny in flashbacks. I certainly wasn't expecting it, but it is revealed to us (the audience) that he has in fact befriended and abused many other young women, and he has taped them! Oh, and he also has flashes of a horrible experience with being on TV with Gala as a child! He of course has his sites set on Felicia, but he won't do anything to her until she has gained his trust, "helped" her in her search, and persuaded her to abort a baby she will be having. He does eventually get to stage where he can make his move, and of course the next morning you see the blood on her night dress. He is quickly visited by the slightly crazy and religion obsessed woman who tries to make him be part of her "path of happiness", and I'm not sure but I think he saw the error of his ways, and he lets Felicia go, and hangs himself. Also starring Claire Benedict as Miss Calligary, Brid Brennan as Mrs. Lysaght, Gerard McSorley as Felicia's Father and Sheila Reid as Iris. This is what I like to refer to as the nut-case film, not exactly the same as them, to similar to the characters from films like One Hour Photo and Misery. Bob Hoskins was number 37 on The 50 Greatest British Actors. Very good!