Writer: Robert Browning, Jacob Grimm, Wilhelm Grimm, Andrew Birkin, Jacques Demy, Mark Peploe
Composer: Donovan
Starring: Michael Hordern, David Leland, John Hurt, Diana Dors, Roy Kinnear, Donald Pleasence
More info: IMDb
Tagline: Come children of the universe, let Donovan take you away, far far away.
Plot: In 1349, while the Black Plague threatens Germany, the town of Hamelin hires a wandering pied piper (Donovan) to lure rats away with his magic pipe, but then refuses to pay for his services, causing him to lure the town's children away.
My rating: 7/10
Will I watch it again? No.
I really need to read Grimm's fairy tales because I LOVE dark tales involving bad things happening to children largely because, for as long as I can remember, that subject is a big taboo that Hollywood doesn't dare tread (you know, killing children and such). As I watched this I started to remember bits and pieces of the story from when I read it as a kid forty or so years ago. This flick looks great and it's well-acted. For a non-actor, pop music sensation Donovan does pretty well. Naturally, this being the early 70s and written and performed by Donovan, the songs are all of their time and not sounding hundreds of years old, so hearing 70s folk tunes in a movie set in the mid-1300s is weird. Michael Hordern kills it as local doctor/wizard-type. I enjoy a good picture set in Europe way back when. The Plague is near, people are on edge and bad people continue to do bad things. I liked the last half hour the most, probably because that's when it's at its darkest. I would've preferred a much darker ending but you can't have everything. There are lots of known actors which are worth watching this for. It's a good watch.
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