Beginning with Performance (1970, featuring Mick Jagger), Walkabout (1971, starring Jenny Agutter), Don't Look Now (1973, starring Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie), and culminating with The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976, centered on David Bowie), the seventies was the era for artistic auteur cinematographer-turned-director Nicolas Roeg. Since then he pretty much slipped into obscurity and stayed away from the helm for 15 years… until Puffball: The Devil's Eyeball lured him back.
Though the movie was released on demand in '07 via IFC, it's taken awhile to find its way on DVD here in the U.S. I'd been wanting to see it for years, since hearing about it from Donald Sutherland himself — the actor would have only a small role this time around, but the thought of him reteaming with Roeg and returning to the supernatural horror genre was tantalizing.
Based on the fertile fable by Fay Weldon, Puffball is about the miracle of life and just how desperate some women become to possess power over it. Newly moved-in architect Liffrey (Kelly Reilly) finds herself a pawn in a witchy game of baby-making presided over by her female neighbors. Homemaker Mabs Tucker (Miranda Richardson) is mother to three delightful daughters, but her desire to have a son is palpable. Mabs' mum, Molly (Rita Tushingham) dabbles in spell-casting in order to ensure herself that grandson since she lost a son herself back in the day… but as it turns out, Mabs' eldest girl Audrey (Leona Igoe) is the only one with enough natural powers to make such a thing happen. The Tucker women are flummoxed when unmarried Liffrey becomes pregnant — convinced the child was meant for Mabs, they go to mad lengths to ensure the child is born into the right family.
Imagery of the conception and the fetus growing is reminiscent of something one might see in a Discovery Channel documentary, and the fake baby belly looks just like what it is. The Celtic signing on the score is heavy-handed and often annoying. As for fave Sutherland, he strolls in and out of a couple of scenes, there for no reason other than to spout expository dialogue using his usual delightful diction.
The movie loses steam about halfway through, never really following through on the promise of the premise. There are some interesting themes going on here, and Roeg does possess the talent to bend the story into Rosemary's Baby territory, but unfortunately Puffball feels more like a lightweight TV movie with gratuitous sex shoehorned in.
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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson