What The Peeper Saw (1972) Kinky Dysfunctional Family Noir

"Un fou ménage à trois? or.... just who exactly is the weirdest Psycho?"

Directed by James Kelley and Andrea Bianchi.

Written by Trevor Preston original screenplay, Andrea Bianchi and Erich Kröhnke for story, and Bautista Lacasa Nebot. Cinematography was by Cinematography by Luis Cuadrado and Harry Waxman. Music was by Stelvio Cipriani.

The film Stars Mark Lester as Marcus, Britt Ekland as Elise, Hardy Krüger as Paul, Lilli Palmer as Dr Viorne, Harry Andrews as the Headmaster, Conchita Montes as Sophie, Collette "Jack" Giacobine as Sarah.

Mark Lester as Marcus

Britt Ekland as Elise

Hardy Krüger as Paul

What The Peeper Saw is a delightfully depraved, macabre, and outrageously un PC psychological Drama.

Marcus (Mark Lester), is a highly intelligent psychotic 12 year-old. His slightly naive step mommy Elise is just two years past her teenage ones, almost a child bride herself. Big daddy Paul, is old enough to be her father too.

Paul comes off as a bit to overly affectionate towards Marcus. That's maybe because Paul is overcompensating for the traumatic incident concerning Marcus' birth mother Sarah.  Sarah was found by Marcus dead in a sunken tub at their UK house. It was diagnosed as a heart attack.

 Collette Giacobine as Sarah.

We see that whole scenario as a prequel to the opening credits. We pick up the story at the simple  "country house" actually a villa with spectacular view and pool perched above the deserts of Almería, Andalucía, Spain. Mommy Elise comes back from a shopping trip to town.  She is surprised to find Marcus there. Marcus immediately comes off as an unlikable, privileged, spoiled brat.

Marcus returns home

The tragedy of his mother's death forced Paul to send Marcus off to boarding school. Marcus tells Elise that the school sent him home because of some serious bug spreading among the classes of kids.

Elise naturally is a bit unsure of herself as a mother to the boy seeing as how she's hardly had much contact with him. She tries to do the right thing but events begin to take a bizarre turn.

Elise tells Marcus that he should go and take a nice hot bath to clean up and relax from his long trip.
Elise checks on Marcus while he's taking his bath. He's still playing with toys in the tub, and Elise tries to act nonchalantly.

Obviously she doesn't seem to realize it's a bit awkward, or maybe she does and is being a bit of a curious voyeur. On one hand you think that, what would she know not being a mother for very long. Then on the other hand you think it's a still a little weird. But Elise has a bit of a Swedish accent so then you take her Swedish naturalistic values into account.



When the bathroom phone extension rings, she goes and answers it. Her back is to Marcus. Its Paul on the phone telling her that the school is sending Marcus home, She relates that he's already gotten there. While she's chit chatting Marcus leans over the end of the tub and cups both of Elise's breasts in his wet hands. She doesn't recoil from it and when off the phone treats it as something an innocent precocious child might do being playful rather than a straight forward grope. The audience sees the beginning glimmer of something off, really off.  Deviant Marcus seems to be attracted to mommy.

groped

Elise and Marcus seem to settle into a somewhat normal life. When Paul arrives home the strange dynamics of dysfunctional family begins to surface.

Paul arrives home by private plane

When some money goes missing from a draw on Paul's desk, Britt tells Paul that she thinks Marcus took it. Marcus then returns the money hiding it in the back of the draw. When it's found he tells Paul that Elise obviously does not like him, took the money and set him up. Elise's other complaints about Marcus reinforces this. Paul doesn't seem to take her concerns seriously, shrugging them off as boys will be boys.

Soon more inter-generational tensions and rivalries begin to surface. We are never quite sure who is doing the manipulating.

Elise: He even lies about his lies. [to Paul]

make up sex

When Paul takes off on another trip tensions between Marcus and Elise escalate. A couple of days later mail arrives from Marcus' boarding school. Marcus intercepts the envelope reads the letter and then tears it up. Later Elise finds a fragment of the envelope with the schools address.

Concerned, Elise takes a trip to the boarding school and finds out what Marcus was actually expelled for.

Harry Andrews as the Headmaster

One, he was caught peeping on young couples making love in a gazebo in a park.Two he was drawing very accurate pornographic pictures of people making love that he observed and was showing them to his classmates, and three he killed a cat and mutilated it.

When Paul comes home from his business trip, Elise tells him about what Marcus did at the school.  Paul already knew and strangely didn't mention it to her. Again Paul leaves Spain for business elsewhere.

One day, while Elise is laying on her bed. She spots a crack in the ceiling she hadn't really noticed before. Knowing what she knows now about Marcus she heads up to the attic to investigate.

Elise goes to investigate the attic

the attic floorboards are loose

Marcus has a perfect view of the bed and any of Elise and Paul's activities thereon

In the space above her and Paul's bedroom she finds some loose boards. Removing them reveals the crack with a clear view to the bed and where Marcus has had an abbondanza of sexual activity to peep upon.

All this begins to take it's toll on Elise, she wonders now just exactly what did Sarah die of, did Paul kill her and Marcus witnessed it? Did Marcus kill her and Paul's covering for him? Elise goes to a child psychiatrist Dr Viorne and explains her suspicions about Marcus.

It all goes Noisville when the sexual mind games between Elise and Marcus really intensify. We also see the fantasy and dream sequences of both Marcus and Elise that effectively veil the proceedings.

In Marcus' bedroom, Elise cross examines him about Sarah's death. Marcus teases Elise telling her that he knows what really happened. He tells her that he'll tell her the truth only if "she presents her self to him in her natural condition." In American English he wants her to strip. She replies that she'll remove an article of clothing with each answer he gives to her questions.

By the time Elise is completely nude, she's found out that Marcus didn't like his mother, that Paul had nothing to do with Sarah's death and that he killed his mother by cutting the insulation on a wire alongside the tubs plumbing. Later after Paul gets back and tells her that "You're even beginning to act and sound like Sarah." it sends Elise off the deep end.

Noirsville

Dream Sequence

Dream Sequence

 

Mark Lester's performance as Marcus is pretty creepy and effective. You want to reach through the screen and throttle him. Britt Ekland handles the complexities of a role that requires her to be both troubled and naive, that segues into abandonment and finally depression. Lilli Palmer is great as the psychiatrist while Hardy Krüger is adequate.

Depictions of child sexuality coupled with a big age gap relationships have become the new taboos in the 21st Century, though, of course if your a male and  you have enough money... as the Cyndi Lauper song goes "money changes everything."

Screencaps are from an on line streamer. 6.5-7/10.