Director: Michael Anderson
Writers: Edward Abraham, Valerie Abraham

I was recently introduced to Vinegar Syndrome. These purveyors of obscure genre films quickly caught my attention due to the fact that they released many films I wanted – and many I didn’t know I wanted until digging in further. Dominique (also known as Dominique is Dead) seems a bit out of their typical milieu, but not in a bad way.

This film is slow, subtly creepy and features a real Gothic flair. The story begins as we watch Dominique basically being gaslit by her husband David. After multiple cruel tricks, Dominique finally has enough and commits suicide. Yet, David keeps seeing her ghastly visage throughout the home. The question that the film poses is simple – is this woman really dead? Or is she truly haunting him to terrify her husband into an early grave?

The story proceeds without giving much away as to the cause of all the haunting business. Only in the final few minutes is everything laid bare. The resolution admittedly disappointed me. Either way, it was still a mostly enjoyable trek. Somehow it does manage to make the 1 hour and 35 minute running time a slog at a few points, though.

Dominique is best watched by fans of British horror. It’s not particularly gory or fast-paced, and instead focuses on creating that dark atmosphere. There’s some surprising touches of colored lighting as well, which turn this into a slightly more stylish film than expected. All in all, it’s a neat (if predictable) twist on the story of a haunting.