This is one of those well-directed, slow burning horror/thrillers that seemed to proliferate in the late '70s/early '80s; it reminds me, favourably, of the likes of THE GODSEND, BUTCHER BAKER NIGHTMARE MAKER, and THE SILENT PARTNER off the top of my head. It's a slow moving film with little bursts of often shocking action, and not one for the modern multiplex audiences demanding a diet of chases and fist-fights every five minutes. Instead, those viewers with an interest in warped psychology and the human condition will find themselves having a ball with this one.

Julie is a sweet 16 year old girl, at least on the outside. In reality, she's far too much in love with her own father, even going so far as to fantasise having sex with him in the film's most shocking dream sequence. This means that anyone else demanding her father's love in the same household is at risk of death. The first incident, with Julie's mother, is a torrid chain of events including attempted rape and eventual murder; you can never quite see where it's going to end up, and the transformation of Paul Hubbard from likable sleaze into the major villain of the piece is an excellent one. Things move along nicely with an excellent set-up involving a kid's game of hide-and-seek that goes tragically wrong, and then we're moving towards the climax, where the twists come thick and fast.

This is definite horror territory with a fair number of kills and violent acts along the way. Julie proves to be a cold-blooded murderer at heart, and there's one infamous moment involving a broken bottle and a rapist that will have any male viewer squirming in their seats. The direction is superb throughout, and the music is fine, but the real strength of this movie lies in the acting. The unknown Mejias is perfect and unforgettable in the title role, delivering a totally frightening performance, while the adult likes of Franciosa, Danning (who unsurprisingly goes nude here) and Girling all do sterling work. I admit I was hooked throughout and not wanting it to end; the final result left me happy and satisfied, the mark of a great little film.

Wow, this is creepy on so many levels I don't know where to begin. So let's begin with the biggie - young Julie (Isabel Mejias) has this serious Daddy (Tony Franciosa) fixation that goes all the way to fantasizing what a sexual encounter with her father might be like. Pretty twisted. This after seeing her mother raped and killed by a delivery man and actually getting some sick kind of enjoyment out of it. So what does she do but contact the same guy to take out her new stepmother (Sybil Danning) to make it a double header. Now I'm wondering who the worse character is, Julie or killer Weston (Paul Hubbard),because they're both now making a pact with the devil that's bound to end very, very badly.

You know, I'm glad I'm nearly at the end of my Mill Creek Mystery Collection of two hundred fifty films because this isn't the kind of flick I'd normally seek out. However I decided I'd watch and review each one some time ago and I hate to go back on a promise to myself. I'll be glad when I can just cruise the cable channels for something more suitable or order up recommendations from other reviewers here from my local library.

Anyway, back to Julie. Somehow I didn't like the kid right from the start. Part of that could have been the way the character was set up from the beginning, never liking her mother but we don't know why (except for the infatuation with the old man). I really don't want to believe there might be somebody like that out there but these story ideas come from somewhere. But since she was such a b---- on wheels, my gut reaction when Sybil Danning made the comeback for the finale was you go, girl! Good recovery too when Franciosa shows up and she goes with "She saved my life". That pretty much made the whole convoluted story worthwhile.

I've been searching and waiting to see "Julie Darling" for quite a very long time, and now that I finally watched, I'm both pleased and upset. Pleased because it's one of the most intense and disturbing 80's thrillers I've seen in a very long time, and upset because it undeservedly became obscure and forgotten amidst the overflow of inferior slasher pictures in that same decade. "Julie Darling" can more or less be categorized as a so-called Bad Seed effort, or – in other words – (horror) movies dealing with evil, psychopathic and murderous children. But this awesome little gem qualifies as a lot more than just that as well. It's a psychological "family" drama with a thoroughly uncanny atmosphere, numerous controversial undertones and a handful of very efficient shock moments. Julie Wilding is a cherubic and well- educated adolescent girl with a rather unhealthy affection for her daddy. Her mother notices Julie's rivalry and possessive behavior and wants to send her to a boarding school. But then her mother gets raped and killed by the grocery delivery boy, and even though Julie witnesses the whole thing from atop of the stairs, she doesn't move a muscle. Just when Julie thinks to have her daddy all for herself, he reveals that he's been having a secret affair for many years and wants to raise a new family with the lovely Susan and her little son. Rather than to get her own hands dirty, Julie tracks down her mother's murderer and blackmails him into doing the same with her new step family. She even joyously adds the words "Oh, and you can rape her all you want…". If Sigmund Freud would have ever written a movie script, the result would look a lot like "Julie Darling". The film is literally stuffed with psychosexual references and disputatious elements, like incestuous, intercourse with minors and matricide. In spite of its obscure status, "Julie Darling" features quite a few famous (in the cult/horror business, at least) names. Writer/director Paul Nicolas was also responsible for the greatest Women in Prison exploitation flick ever made, namely "Chained Heat" released that same wondrous year 1983. Anthony Franciosa, known from Dario Argento's giallo classic "Tenebre" is excellent as the unsuspecting (?) father and many horror fanatics will be super enthusiast to see Sybil Danning stars as the lovely stepmom. The one true diva of the film, however, is young Isabelle Mejias as Julie. I always thought that Patty McCormack ("The Bad Seed" 1956) was the most devilish child star, but she's a church choir girl in comparison to Isabelle Mejias. She depicts a truly frightening, cold-hearted and malignant teenage psycho.