Harlequin

1980

Action / Drama / Fantasy / Horror / Mystery / Thriller

13
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 50% · 5 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Spilled 50% · 100 ratings
IMDb Rating 6.1/10 10 2015 2K

magic senator illusion leukemia sorcerer psychic

Plot summary

Up-and-coming senator Nick Rast's young son is terminally ill with leukemia. A mysterious faith healer, Gregory Wolfe, appears and seems to cure the boy. Rast's wife Sandy falls in love with Wolfe, but the powerful interests behind Rast's career, represented by geriatric monster Doc Wheelan are less happy with events.

Director

Simon Wincer Photo
Simon Wincer

Top cast

Gus Mercurio Photo
Gus Mercurio as Mr. Bergier
David Hemmings Photo
David Hemmings as Nick Rast
Robert Powell Photo
Robert Powell as Gregory Wolfe
Mark Spain Photo
Mark Spain as Alex Rast
720p.BluRay 1080p.BluRay 2160p.BluRay
831.62 MB
1280*544
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 35 min
Seeds 3
1.48 GB
1920*816
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 35 min
Seeds 7
4.3 GB
3840*2160
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 35 min
Seeds 2

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by Chinook-3

Remember the Czar??

Fascinating, dark study of a political family seduced by the powers of a traveling magician who befriends their ill son. The story works well on that level, and the acting is certainly passable enough to be entertaining.Even more fascinating when one realizes that this is a retelling of the historical plot of the fall of the Czar of Russia! In history, Nicholas (Nicky in this film) and Alexandra (Sandy) had and extremely ill son, Alexander (Alex) and allowed the "Mad Monk" Gregory Rasputin (Gregory Wolfe) into the family with his promises of a cure for the the boy. Viewed on this level, this interesting enough B-movie become a fascinating study in parallels. Well worth a rental and some time to enjoy!
Reviewed by Theo Robertson 6 / 10

Not As Good As I Remembered

I saw this in 1983 and remembered it as a very haunting supernatural drama so I made a point in staying up late tonight to watch it on TV . Unfortunately it's one of these movies that disappoints after seeing it again after a very lengthy period . When it's good it's very good but there's not enough good moments . Thankfully the ending still compels when Wolfe returns to tell Rast what's going on plot wise but much of the movie revolves around long talkative scenesThe major problem with HARLEQUIN is that it's an Australian movie . There's nothing wrong with that in itself but as well as being a supernatural drama it's also a political thriller but does the machinations of Australian state politics interest a potential audience compared to global American politics ? In other words just think of how more thought provoking the story could have been if Wolfe had befriended the family of a man who's running for party nomination for presidential candidate . Wouldn't that have made for a better , more thought provoking film ? We can all understand how powerful a potential candidate for US President is but for much of the movie I was scratching my chin as to what's the big deal about deputy governor of an unnamed Australian stateDespite my disappointment HARLEQUIN is if not a great movie it's far from being a bad one . Robert Powell doesn't go over the top in a role that demands much subtlety while David Hemmings likewise plays Senator Rast in a cleverly understated manner . Despite the obvious parallels to the legend of Rasputin , directing that seems better suited to a TVM and some underwhelming special effects the last twenty minutes are nothing less than nail biting and I still recommend this movie as long as you've got the patience to stay with it.
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