A Closed Book

Eccentric Chilean director Raoul Ruiz has rifled through the Hammer bag of horror tricks and come up with a ­relentlessly silly, oddly diverting yarn about a blind art critic (Tom Conti) and his ­malign personal assistant (Daryl Hannah). A crash zoom alerts us to the fact that Conti has no eyes in his head! Spinning overhead shots mean that someone is panicking! Gilbert Adair's script keeps us in the dark until the final moments when – hey presto - the curtains are yanked back and the light breaks through. And wouldn't you know it? The big reveal is just a cheap, dull shimmer.