Hello all! Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and I love to buddy watch movies together – even though I am in Michigan and she is in Pennsylvania! We don’t literally watch together in a watch party, although that might be fun one time! We wanted our fall list to feel fall cozy, move into some more chilling movies, than turn cozy again for November.

This week’s feature was none other than the classic film, Rebecca.

Another Hitchcock – and our last one! We should have probably named our movie feature series Comfy Cozy Creepy Cinema, but we just dip into creepy, right? Next week we will be back to comfy cozy!

“Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.”

One of the best first lines ever, in my opinion, but maybe that is because I know this movie so well, that I know exactly what this means. We know the secret of Manderley, and it is not a happy one.

It starts off all romantic. Max de Winter has lost his first wife, and on holiday meets his soon to be second wife, who is nameless until she becomes Mrs. de Winter. After a bit of a whirlwind courtship that is slightly odd (that happens so much in these old movies!) the two get married and then return to Max’s home, Manderley, a cold and imposing looking house – well, mansion. Estate? Whatever, not a house.

If the new Mrs. de Winter wasn’t intimidated yet just by the size of the house, the next person she meets will certainly ensure that she is. Mrs. Danvers. The Nurse Ratchet of Manderley. What a total obsessive creeper! And honestly, everyone is just rude to her throughout the whole movie. Family, friends. She is constantly compared to her predecessor and found lacking again and again and again. And Max is no help at all!

You can’t help but feel sorry for new Mrs. de Winter, and then it gets worse! When Max is away one day, she finds herself in the shrine – I mean, Rebecca’s – old bedroom, which is just as she left it, and just as well tended as when she was alive. And of course creepy old Danvers is there, making it worse. The new Mrs. de Winter finally finds her backbone, and demands that everything be destroyed. Well, you can imagine how that goes over!

Anddddd …. my little synopsis will stop there. If you want to know what happens, watch it, because it is a truly mesmerizing movie, seriously creepy with all the infatuation and obsession, set against this house on the sea. However, if you really want to know what happens, read the book first! And that is all I will say on that.

All of the magic that Hitchcock is known for, with lighting, scenes, the interplay of characters and set, are all present in this movie. This is particularly evident in the scene between Mrs. Danvers and Mrs. de Winter, the living one. And of course, bravo to the cinematographer. I am such a sucker for beautiful cinematography, and I feel like sometimes the cinematographers are just forgotten about with all deference and accolades paid to the director instead. The cinematographer in this case is George Barnes, by the way. I mean seriously. Stunning. Terrifying.

And that is where I will stop for today!!

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Join us next week for our back to comfy cozy movie choice, Little Women! (the new one)

Please be sure to check out Lisa’s super amazing post!