User reviews

Unman, Wittering and Zigo is largely unknown little film, and that isn't really surprising considering that it's really rather odd. It's not a bad film, however, and certainly is ripe for rediscovery. The film is along the same lines as Lindsay Anderson's 1968 masterpiece "If..." as it focuses on a rebellious group of boys at a posh school. The film is based on a play by Giles Cooper and that is always evident as we focus on just a handful of small locations and everything is centred on the main plot line. We focus on John Ebony, a young and idealistic teacher who takes a job an English school and is put in charge of a class of boys, leaving his wife at home in the cottage provided for them. He is given the job because of a tragic accident which resulted in the previous teacher of the class falling off a cliff to his death. It's not long before it becomes apparent that the class is not made up of 'normal' boys, and this becomes even more the case when the new teacher is told by the boys that they murdered the old one! John soon starts to fear for his life...

The best thing about this film is the way it's plotted. We are given the mystery on a plate at the start of the film and the rest of it focuses on working out whether or not what the boys told their teacher is true. Director John Mackenzie skilfully handles the main plot theme and Unman, Wittering and Zigo becomes more thrilling with every turn. The plot is relaxed in the way that it plays out, but the director keeps things interesting by ensuring that the mystery is always intriguing and the tension just bubbles beneath the surface. The film benefits from an excellent ensemble cast which is lead by the great David Hemmings who is backed up by a good cast of youngsters. The atmosphere in this film is great and is partly created by the way that the boys interact with one another. One of the most striking things about this film is the way that they talk in unison and that in itself helps to build up a feeling of dread emanating from how it shows us what the central character is up against. Overall, Unman, Wittering and Zigo may be slightly lacking in some areas (the ending is not particularly strong and the story sometimes lacks direction) but these are not big faults in what is otherwise an excellent slice of cult cinema!

"Unman, Wittering and Zigo" is a thoroughly peculiar and strangely uncanny gem from the early 70's Brit-movie industry; an era where lots of long-lost forgotten movie classics are still waiting to be re- discovered by cult fanatics. The film lacks explicit bloodshed or exciting actions stunts, but it thrives on ominous atmosphere, a solid and complex screenplay and impeccable acting performances. David Hemmings, perhaps the most shamefully underrated actor/director to come out of Great Britain, stars as a young and still ambitious teacher who enrolls in a strictly catholic male boarding school in the remote British countryside. He takes over class Lower 5-B since their previous teacher died in a most unfortunate accident when he fell off a cliff. When trying to bring some order and discipline amongst the rebellious young men and threatening to give them Saturday afternoon detention, one of his pupils suddenly states: "our previous teacher also wanted to that … and that's why we killed him, Sir". From that moment onwards, the students are provide more and accurate proof that they, in fact, did kill their previous teacher and scare Mr. Ebony into believing that the same might overcome him or his lovely wife Sylvia. Obviously no one believes him – not even his wife – and the pupils continue to push further their blackmail and menacing. "Unman, Wittering and Zigo" (the title refers to the last three names on the alphabetic list that Mr. Ebony runs through to see who's present in class) is a slow-brooding chiller with an immense claustrophobic power. By this I mean that director John MacKenzie manages to make it so obvious that nobody in John Ebony's immediate surrounding even suspects the pupils of anything, whereas he finds himself trapped in a isolated situation of fear from which he cannot escape. To everyone else, the pupils of class Lower 5-B are sophisticated and well-mannered young men and only their teacher knows that they're actually deeply disturbed and nihilistic psychopaths. There are a handful of truly powerful and perturbing sequences, including near the end with John's wife trapped in the school's gym, as well as a terrific use of the contemporary British life-styles and the remote setting. Unfortunately, the film also contains a few defaults, like a largely unsatisfying climax and some dead-end plot lines, but overall I would definitely say this is a gem well worth seeking out and treasuring.

When a school teacher dies in an accident, his replacement quickly begins to suspect his students of murder.

Using its theatrical origins to claustrophobic effect, Unman, Wittering and Zigo very cleverly builds up layer upon layer of tension and menace, as Hemming's naive and idealistic Mr. Ebony is quickly and easily outclassed by his pupils, seemingly at every turn. Dismissed by his headmaster, and humoured by both his wife and a fellow teacher, Ebony is slowly ground into submission by the boys as they repeatedly claim to have killed his predecessor. However, when the boys attempt an assault on his wife as a way of further controlling Ebony, the web they have spun begins to unravel until eventually another tragedy forces out the truth.

Chilly and chilling, Mackenzie is well-served by his actors, both adult and juvenile. Hemmings captures just the right note of bewilderment and impotence, whilst Seymour turns the potentially thankless role of Mrs. Ebony into a striking portrait of independence, determination and naturalism - her performance during the attempted assault by the boys is quite brilliant. Standout amongst the boys are Hoye, Owen and Cashman, all conveying stonewall confidence collectively, whilst allowing just the faint trace of fear and uncertainty when separated from their classmates. Unsettling allusions to Ebony's ambivalence and a vaguely sexual response to his ordeal add to the mix, and only a slightly dissatisfying and unbelievable conclusion mar what is otherwise a deeply disturbing, grown up story. Highly recommended, if you can track it down.

A forgotten gem, this is one of the earliest films John Mackenzie directed after a few years working in television, before he returned to television in time to shoot some of the finest Play For Todays of the 1970s. And along with The Long Good Friday and Ruby this is Mackenzie finest achievement in the cinema. A stunning thriller, this is an assured, efficient filming of a chilly concept. David Hemmings is excellently vulnerable in the lead, the perfect Hitchcockian hero, believed by nobody apart from the viewer. The class of boys includes a young Michael Kitchen, and there's Tony haygarth as a world weary colleague whose lack of joie de vivre begins to corrupt Hemmings as much as his class do.

The most frightening sequence is the shocking persecution of the wife in the squash courts, a superbly staged scene that is quite a jaw-dropper considering the age of the film. In fact it is more the quaint English setting that adds the real shyock to the scene. It is interesting to compare this film with two other public school movies of the era, inevitably Lindsay Anderson's If....but more significantly the brilliant Walk A Crooked Path

which similarly portrays the public school boys as corrupt, ruthless and cold blooded, brilliantly adept at money making, no matter how immorally, and trained to view the world with a haughty authority.

Unman Wittering And Zigo is a truly gripping thriller, and proves Mackenzie is a great thriller maker as he illustrated in pieces like Dennis Potter's Double Dare and The Long Good Friday even more vividly.

It's a very peculiar movie, which perhaps could only have been fully explained in semi-supernatural terms, although it never takes that step. The later sequences where murder seems entirely possible (particularly as they terrorize Seymour) are very unsettling. The movie is also a pretty effective exploding of the public school upper-crust ethos, depicting the boys as determined to get good university scholarships (perceived by them as the next thing to a divine right) while doing as little work as possible. That aside, it's not very ambitious or enormously distinctive - the portrayal of the school beyond the class itself is pretty vague and Hemmings' specific strategy - focusing on finding the ringleader - is fairly indistinctly plotted. Leonard Maltin's review refers to the actual killer's identity being revealed after closing credits but that wasn't the case in the print seen here (quite a let down, actually). The movie should surely have reached further into metaphor or broader meaning or SOMETHING. But even so, it kept me watching until 3.15 am one morning.

Ok, it's not a big picture, but for me it was a once in a five years kind of thing. Air loaded with anxiety without the the ease of deeply understanding the motives or reasons of the characters. These psychological thrillers of 70's and early 80's are all about the feel - the poetical anxiety of not being safe or being able to find reasons for evil behavior. For me this genre is pure gold and nowadays rarely approached. Unman... is a nice find for a friend of this shivering era.

The movie opens with the arrival of a replacement teacher at a British boys' school. Mr. Ebony (David Hemmings) attempts to establish authority by threatening to hold Saturday classes as a punishment for unruly behavior. "It isn't a good idea, sir," young Mr Cloistermouth (Nicholas Hoye) warns him placidly, adding, "Mr. Pelham tried it once, sir. And that's why we killed him, sir."

Did they? They're a creepy bunch. Even the incessantly repeated honorific "sir" begins to feel sinister, though it is never said sarcastically. These boys keep up appearances. So are they capable of murder? It's plausible, and it certainly got this viewer's attention.

As others have noted, the idea resembles "Lord of the Flies," an allegory about human nature, where prepubescent boys degenerate to savagery to survive on an isolated island. But in "Unman," the boys are almost grown, and itching for freedom from the oppressive regimentation at the school. A few leaders emerge, the rest follow, and they coerce Ebony into helping. He complies, in part, because no one in charge believed him when he reported that the boys confessed to throwing Mr Pelham off the nearby cliffs. The Headmaster doesn't even believe him after he produces evidence in the form of Pelham's bloody wallet, which the boys gave him, lest he doubt what they're capable of.

Being neither British nor male, I can't speak to the authenticity of a public school where the coolly composed Headmaster (Douglas Wilmer) has such resolute faith in hidebound methods that he will not even hear dissent. Indeed, when given the bloody wallet, his reaction is to fire Ebony. Like "Lord of the Flies," it could also be considered an allegory, but in the end it feels more like a callow indictment a rigid educational system, minus mature insight.

I came across this obscure and barely released film by chance,intrigued by it's synopsis. And like it happens with every buried treasure it was a revelation. Director John McKenzie, and cinematographer Geoffrey Unsworth, skilfully made this film into a close knit mystery with a bit of a disappointing ending which doesn't hurt the overall impression.

David Hammings is a new teacher at a boarding school who gets to teach a class from hell. Not by violence, but by sinister mind games,and subtle or not so subtle threats, they creep him into playing their game. What will happen is there to be seen. There is no need to explain why they are so twisted, there can be many reasons, and the boarding school system with it's rigid rules can be one of them, but than again, it may not be.This movie is not on DVD and it probably will never be, but mystery film buffs, if you come across this gem, be sure not to miss it.

Brooks?"Blackboard Jungle" in which Glenn Ford's wife is assaulted by the young guys.Anderson?"If" with its strict school and religion and sport as vectors of alienation.Vigo? (Check the name;it cannot be a coincidence;besides Zigo is always away during the whole movie)"Zero de conduite" the granddaddy of all these students rebellions.

With such references,the miracle is that "Unman,Wittering and Zigo" is a thoroughly original movie,what we usually call a sleeper.Extremely suspenseful,frightening without any special effect,it sustains interest till its last pictures.David Hemmings gives a good performance of this nice teacher ,literally under his students'thumb.What is really fascinating is the way they subdue him,the very polite way they speak;the story is implausible,but its implacable logic makes our blood run cold."We have killed your predecessor" they say to a first bemused teacher "It's a perfect crime".Hemmings 's character is completely lonely in his chic school where nobody wants to believe him ,not even his wife."We took you in hand" his students keep on repeating him.

SPOILERS:Once again,the punching bag subject comes to the fore;it makes sense that such a character should be the instigator of the crime .Being an outcast is ,to some,unbearable,and out of despair,he'd do anything to become part of the group.But what's bred in the bone comes out in the flesh:during the terrifying scene at the gym,this boy is once again humiliated .Although ,they treated their pal like a dog,they have lost their strange leader and they become children again,crying children in the last sequence.

"Unman ,Wittering and Zigo" is a disturbing movie;to the art teacher who tells him he ultimately solves the mystery,Hemmings answers :"but what can explain their behavior?"And as they carry their dead companion,the students walk hostilely towards the headmaster and his old fossils:the true rebellion has only begun.

I have been scratching my head for years trying to remember the name of this brilliant film and now I have found it. It definitely deserves another outing, I saw it years ago, it scared me witless then but I would love to see it again.

It reminded my of my days at boarding school although thankfully not quite so gruesome.

The pace of the terror is kept up throughout the film and I have kept an eye out for it hoping that one day it will be shown again.

It has not happened yet but maybe one day someone will dig it out of the vaults dust it off and give it another showing. It is an extremely well made film.

Very well worth watching and I give it my own rating of 100 out 10 !!! It has been made the way "terror films" ought to be made, in the style of "Hammer Films" and "House Of Horror".

Incidentally Roy Skeggs, who produced the "Hammer House of Horror" films in the 1980's later went on to buy the remains of the original defunct production company.

This deliciously off-beat, uncommonly gripping British feature remains a fascinatingly multifaceted cinematic jewel, and why this macabre, ruthlessly unsentimental examination of murderously sociopathic school boys remains so obscure is quite beyond me! A feral rush of pure cinema, 'Unman Wittering & Zigo' is dynamically directed with consummate skill by John Mackenzie, with truly chilling performances from a sublime young cast, and yet another bravura turn from the mercurial acting genius David Hemmings ensures that no fright fan's skin shall go uncrawled as they watch satisfyingly shuddersome 70s shocker, 'Unman Wittering & Zigo'.

Maestro Mackenzie's profoundly disquieting thriller can sit quite uncomfortably alongside equally unsettling creepy classics, 'Village of the Damned', 'Symptoms', and 'The Wicker Man' as one of British genre cinema's all-time doomiest, black-hearted horror films! A razor-edged, highly charged nightmare with a palpably disturbing atmosphere. As the genuinely unnerving narrative unfolds, ace director Mackenzie mercilessly ratchets up the pulse-quickening perversity, memorably orchestrating a vivid number of sinister sequences, culminating starkly with an especially distressing dénouement that remains no less potent long after the credits have rolled! (FYI, the ICA or NFT really should give this masterpiece a full bells & whistles screening!) 'Unman Wittering & Zigo' is highly recommended, this oppressively downbeat psychodrama's emotional impact reverberates no less devastatingly today than upon its original release in 1971!

The great David Hemmings ("Deep Red") stars as John Ebony, a former advertising man who's taken a new job as teacher at a secluded, coastal boys' school. His "form", or class, is Lower 5-B, and they're an unruly lot who don't take kindly to being told what to do. They also all tend to stick together. One of their first orders of business is informing John that they in fact murdered the man whom he replaced. He must "toe the line" regarding his treatment of them, or he WILL be sorry.

This wonderfully sinister, creepy sleeper has languished in obscurity for far too long. Based on a play by Giles Cooper, and directed with style by John Mackenzie ("The Long Good Friday"), it tells a compelling story with a nifty premise. It's easy to get hooked and wonder where it will take you; even though the answer to the burning question facing John is no great surprise, it's still devastating when you think of the reason *why* the murder of Mr. Pelham was proposed in the first place.

"Unman, Wittering and Zigo" (the title refers to the last three names on the roll call, although Zigo is always mysteriously absent) is able to get fairly explicit (there is some sex and nudity, but no real gore) while also not overplaying its hand in the portrayal of these very manipulative, self-serving students.

Well acted by all concerned, and infused with a great rural British atmosphere, this is one film worth checking out for the uninitiated - or re-discovering, if it's been a while since you've seen it.

Eight out of 10.