Elizabeth Taylor stars in her only foray in the horror genre with Laurence Harvey in "Night Watch," based on a story by "Sorry, Wrong Number" author Lucille Fletcher. She and husband Laurence are living across from a deserted house, run down from neglect and which has a supposed curse on it – a rumor that people were killed there and therefore the house hasn't been sold or rented in years. This spooky ominousness sets the tone, and then she begins to see visions of death in the windows of the old house - a man with his throat being cut. She calls the police to investigate, and soon they tire of her calling and calling after each sighting. But she insists she sees dead bodies over there. Doesn't anybody believe me?, she asks. Also, a friend of the family played by Billie Whitelaw is hanging around all the time and flirting with Laurence and he her. Besides the disturbing undercurrent of menace and her constant sightings of dead bodies, not much really happens for the bulk of the film, but it's the anticipation of violence that may erupt any time that keeps you in knots, along with her paranoia. Then comes the climax, and even if you've guessed it, you won't believe what you are seeing! Elizabeth Taylor is beautiful here and all players are excellent in this must-see horror classic, which will haunt you until you….

The stage origins of this piece are all too obvious, especially in the hands of Brian G. Hutton's relentlessly TV style direction with its monotonous close-ups piled on top of monotonous close-ups. And as if there wasn't enough talk in the film already, the producers hired Evan Jones to flesh it out with "additional dialogue". For some reason, the original British release print is a merciful seven minutes shorter than that released in the U.S.A. The acting, depending as it does upon plot twists and what-she-didn't-know-was, could be described at best as no more than serviceable. Liz Taylor, who is now showing her age, despite all the too-obvious care in costuming, photography, make-up and hair styling, gets the lion's share of technical attention. Billie Whitelaw has to make do with seconds. And as for Laurence Harvey, he looks positively haggard. The best performance in the movie actually comes from Bill Dean, perfectly cast in a straightforward role as the imposed-upon police inspector. Fortunately, the art direction focused on the creepy old house next door is indeed eerily atmospheric – and this is abetted by superb photography and a really creepy music score which gives the film just the right unsettling atmosphere. Indeed, for a moment or two, we are treading suspensefully on Psycho ground, and happily, the climax does make amends for a lot of the tedium that has gone before.

It says much about the decline in Elizabeth Taylor's career that she wound up in such a routine film, and even more that it was one of her better films of the 1970's. The plot is about a wealthy, recently remarried widow who is being menaced by someone unknown and fears for her own life. However, she recently recovered from a mental breakdown and is suspected by some to be losing her sanity again. Her stockbroker husband (Lawrence Harvey) and friends want to help, but things are not what they seem. This storyline was old hat even back in 1973. It's the same kind of material which was covered by "Midnight Lace," which this closely resembles, along with "Gaslight," "Sorry, Wrong Number," "Suspicion," "Diabolique," "Sudden Fear," and many others. Nothing in this film is done all that badly, in spite of a slow beginning. Taylor gives an adequate performance, and she gets to wear some glamorous clothing and is surrounded by attractive sets. Also, there is a clever twist ending which delivers some suspense. But none of the film delivers the kind of excitement that it's supposed to. Perhaps we already have seen this story in one form or another far too often and it fails to deliver anything new.

Elizabeth Taylor stars in a horror movie. This alone should be enough to make you want to see it. But unfortunately, this movie is slower than a broken clock. Nothing really happens for a large portion of this film as we are beat over the head with the red herrings. But every once in a while Ms Taylor delivers some very unintentionally funny lines that keep you from totally falling asleep. So, why the 5-stars then?? Simply because the pay-off is almost worth the first 85 minutes of agony - I said almost! Seriously, though, the end is pretty good. I'd recommend this to fans of "old-hag horror" (ie Whatever Happened To Baby Jane,Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte) or Elizabeth Taylor aficionados.