Just perfect...

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

To date there have been only two films based on books by bestselling author Peter Straub: "Ghost Story", which was an appalling mess, and this one. "Full Circle" is derived from "Julia", Straub's second published novel and first foray into the horror genre--and, while certain arbitrary departures from the book prevent this film from being totally effective, it does capture the formidably spooky atmosphere of Straub's prose. What clicks: A.) Mia Farrow as Julia. She's every bit as persistent, and as fragile, as her counterpart in the novel; desperate for some sense of resolution after the tragic death of her nine-year-old daughter, Julia puts herself at greater and greater risk as she pursues the ghost that haunts her newly-purchased London townhouse and the park adjacent to it. The final encounter between Julia and Olivia is beautifully, deliciously eerie, and works despite the fact that nothing so definite occurs in the book. B.) Colin Towns' sensitive soundtrack, especially in that final scene. What doesn't: the decision to make Magnus, Julia's estranged husband, a much younger and less menacing character than he was in the novel. Keir Dullea delivers an adequate performance as this diminished Magnus, but he's only an incidental character here--not a link to the troubled history of Julia's house, as he was in the book. Missed opportunity: the exclusion of Mona, the little black girl encountered by Julia in the novel. The reader is never quite sure who or what Mona is, but each of her appearances in the book is a precursor to one of Olivia's own dreadful manifestations (or to the revelation of something terrible that Olivia has done). When Julia asks Mona the name of the blonde girl in the park, the answer she receives is not "Olivia" but "Doolya". This is one of the novel's most unsettling moments. Surely it could have been worked into the movie somehow? This is only director Richard Loncraine's second film, but he handles the subject matter deftly. "Full Circle" (which played U.S. theaters in 1981 as "The Haunting of Julia") will please most fans of Peter Straub and intelligent horror in general. Seven and a half stars.

I can't believe Full Circle has received such poor ratings, it is an amazing little thriller with a dark mystery behind it. Julia has an unhappy marriage with her controlling husband, Magnus. Her only reason for not divorcing him is her daughter Katie. When Katie dies by choking to death, Julia is sent away to a mental ward by Magnus, and at her release she quickly boards a taxi and leaves before Magnus can get to her again. She buys a large house that is beautiful but rather creepy, with old furniture for the taking and all sorts of odd rooms. Julia believes she sees Katie at a nearby playground but only finds a poor cut apart tortoise and a knife where the supposed Katie had been standing. Horrified, Julia runs home. Her best friend Mark (closely resembles Cy Curnin from the Fixx), sympathizes with her, he secretly is in love with her but is cautious of Magnus, who makes fun of him for his carefree lifestyle. One day Julia allows her friend Lilly to have a séance in her living room, and this attracts a ghostly little girl. Soon Julia uncovers a dreadful past in the house; a little girl named Olivia used to live there but died. She was a sociopath, killing animals and having sex with the neighborhood children, and even murdering an innocent little boy just because he was German. Soon Julia's husband and friends begin to be killed in strange ways and she suspects Olivia's spirit may be behind it. The acting was extraordinary; Julia (Mia Farrow), had previously played the main character in Rosemary's Baby and was just as good in this film. Mark's character was played very well, too. The film is set in England and the scenery is very eerie and decrepit. It really adds to the film. The soundtrack was so amazing I went out and bought a CD of it, it's got that synthesized psychedelic sound of the 70's and a melancholy piano tune to make it truly creepy, really fitting the movie. I can't recall who played Olivia, some child actress, but although she never spoke she did a great job at being absolutely eerie. This movie deserves better ratings, it's a great little film that's totally worth watching. It was based on the novel 'Julia' by horror and mystery author Peter Straub.

I saw this the first time back in the early 1980s when it was making a run on HBO and was immediately mesmerized by it. Mia Farrow is the perfect lead... and victim. Nutshell overview (no spoilers or give-aways): After losing her own daughter to a random act of providence, Julia (Mia Farrow) isolates herself to try and make some sense of life afterward. Little does she know she has walked into a situation that will, ultimately, trump her own tragedy and lead her down some very dark paths. The critic in me says: The screenplay is pretty dated which lumps it in with a lot of movies of the time. But the storyline is worthy and the soundtrack impeccable, with the combination holding this up as one seriously spooky ride if you can immerse yourself into it.Availability: Unfortunately, the entertainment industry casts aside those children it doesn't love and this one is no exception. The Haunting of Julia, aka Full Circle, is not available on DVD and the soundtrack is all but impossible to find. Beyond all that: To the credit of one You Tube contributor (who has at least one post here), the movie is available there to watch. I am personally very grateful to both that You Tube submitter and to the movie industry for allowing it to remain for fans who have no other avenue of access.In closing: The beautifully haunting main theme to this movie has followed me for nearly three decades, keeping alive the memory and finally leading me here, full circle.

I read the book way too young to compare it to the film. My dad was a huge Peter Straub fan and for a young child those books were intriguing. They evoked my favorite childhood emotion (fear), they were chopped full of adult themes, and they seem to properly reflect the shadowy disappointments of life. The American release of this book (Full Circle) also boasted one of the coolest covers in existence.Strangely when I sat down to watch the film I couldn't remember if I had even seen it. The VHS tape was almost worn out of existence so I must have seen it several times in my youth, but I was still drawing a complete blank.In the first scene our heroine's daughter gets a piece of an apple lodged in her throat. The parents do what any parents would do - panic. Obviously any audience member with first aid experience would probably be yelling what steps they should follow at the screen, and the first step being not to panic, but realistically parents would still panic.She tries to use her fingers to pull it out, then a knife to cut it out. Of course the child dies and our heroine blames herself for her daughter's death.After a short stint in a hospital she runs away from her cold, emotionless husband and buys a large house. Her husband can't understand why she would leave him and believes she is just confused. He sends his sister to try to talk to our heroine and even, at least our heroine believes, bangs on the roof to scare her back to him. But of course the house is haunted with... well that's enough of the plot.As the movie continued I began to remember it more and more. The music, which is great ghost story music, seemed to jar out the memory more then anything else. By the middle of the film the ending came back to me, and the imagery at the ending is almost poetic.... I would like to say... unforgettable.There are some death scenes throughout, and I can't help to think the movie would be more effective and more creepy without them. This is probably a different reaction then the one I had to the book.I think people who are only familiar with modern horror movies may find this movie a little slow, but almost every scene does have to do with the plot or the characters in some way.Don't expect it to scare you, it is not that kind of story. This is probably the cause of my negative reaction to the mere fact there is death scenes. This movie is more about strangeness and atmosphere. It resembles the kind of ghost tale you would tell around the campfire one dry summer's night, and your exposure to those kind of stories is probably a good yardstick to judge what your reaction to this movie probably would be. It's definitely not my favorite in these kinds of stories, but I'm willing to forgive quite a lot for such a good ending.I give it 4 "unforgettable" campfire tales out of 5. Thanks for reading.