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One of those it-must-have-seemed-like-a-good-idea-at-the-time movies
Simon Wincer's Harlequin is one of those it-must-have-seemed-like-a-good-idea-at-the-time movies, transposing the Rasputin myth (rather than the reality) to 1980 Australia pretending to be America as Robert Powell's faith healer, magician and possible charlatan inveigles his way into senator David Hemmings household by curing his son of leukaemia. New age mumbo jumbo, passable but unimpressive special effects and 70s corporate political conspiracies converge to little effect, while a cheesy score by Brian May and a they're-not-really-going-to-oh-my-Lord-they-did ending bang the final nail in the coffin.
It doesn't help that the film's not been treated well on DVD in the UK: Prism's cropped release appears to be cut and is extras-free (the original deleted release by Britfilms was at least 2.35:1). The US releases, under the title Dark Forces [DVD] [1980] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC], fares better, with a 2.35:1 widescreen transfer, audio commentary with Director Simon Wincer and Producer Anthony I. Ginnane, isolated score, stills gallery and trailer.
