Wait Until Dark is a pretty inspiring title. You will probably think that it’s a horror film upon first glance right? Well, this one is more of a thriller than a horror, but I suppose that you can think of it either way. This film came out decades ago, but I saw the technicolor version so it’s in color. Can this film hold up to today’s standards?

The film starts out with a guy fixing a doll and then giving it to a woman. She heads for a plane and upon getting off, she gives it to Sam. Sam takes it home and promptly loses the doll. The woman who had given him the doll is murdered and then two villains break into the Sam’s home. Another villain follows them and they make a partnership. Mike and Carlino are the two villains who team up with Harry Roat.

The plan is to find the doll because it’s got to still be in the house right? That’s what they figure, but things may get difficult. They trick Sam into leaving for the day, but they’ve still got to deal with his blind wife, Susy, and Gloria, the little kid. Instead of bumping them off the old fashioned way, they decide to take advantage of Susy’s blindness and trick her into giving them the doll. They’ve just overlooked one thing…she doesn’t know where the doll is! Will Suzy find the doll and stop the fiends?

Well, Susy is the main character and since Sam isn’t one of the greatest characters out there, she’s really on her own. Gloria is around for moral support, but to quote a smart man in Megaman Axess, “What can you kids do?” I believe that the man put it in the best phrasing of words possible. He may have been proven wrong seconds later, but at least he talked a good game. Susy is a decent character I suppose, but the terror of the moment does pretty much consume her several times.

Gloria is a pretty annoying character and her first moment brought her down the ranks. She just couldn’t recover from such a sad display of emotion and lack of control. Sam…..he’s not a good character either. I had my suspicions during his first few appearances, but they were confirmed towards the climax. After realizing that his wide is in trouble, he tries to slow down the police from entering the building. “Take it easy!” he says to them, which was definitely odd considering the circumstances. Sam never even got to take on the villains and wasn’t impressive.

Mike was easily the best character from the three villains. He was pretty smart and he was able to take on Harry Roat during the beginning. He definitely felt like he was the most professional and he was pretty epic towards the ending. He and Carlino thought of a pretty Brilliant plan to take someone out, but we never learn exactly how they were going to do it. Carlino definitely wasn’t as good, but he’s all right I suppose. He’s a little overweight, not very smart, and comic relief, so there’s definitely a few stereotypes in there. We’ve also got Harry Roat, who was a decent villain. The only problem is that he loses sight of his objectives and he takes too long to finish the job. He does seem to be pretty smart, but I don’t think that he could take on Mike in a fair fight. His weapon of choice was interesting…but wouldn’t have made it against stronger opponents.

Overall, this is a decent thriller film. It’s not my favorite since it doesn’t hold up quite as well as some of the other old movies. I believe that Susy had a hard time carrying her own film and that probably hurt the overall strength of the film a little. When a person is blind, there will always be a lot of belief suspension needed to believe that she can actually fight/outsmart the villains. Mike was the most entertaining character and especially during the beginning piece, but the others were only okay. So, I’m sure that you’ll like it if you want to see a retro thriller film, but if you want to feel true terror…..Check out Final Fantasy The Spirits Within!

Overall 4/10