Almost 30 years before
Peter Weir brought us
The Truman Show, cinematic cult figure
Paul Bartel (of
Eating Raoul and
Lust in the Dust fame) was the 30-year-old auteur of this half-hour film, a somewhat sleazy bit of surrealism on a similar subject. Amy Vane plays a woman whose every move is recorded on film. She didn't ask for this scrutiny: the woman is the victim of a voyeuristic director, who contrives to hide cameras wherever she goes and show the results in a theater. It is just as warped as it sounds, but it has its own peculiar appeal. The videocassette version of The Secret Cinema includes The Naughty Nurse, a 7-minute chunk of erotica that is best ignored. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide