Fun City Editions' New 2K Film Restoration Of Director David Greene's I Start Counting Arrives On Blu-ray On Nov. 24

Before Walkabout.   Before Logan’s Run.   Before Jenny Agutter became a star, she was the lead in director David Greene’s 1970 suspense thriller, I Start Counting, which, as near as we can tell, was never picked up for theatrical distribution in the United States.

Word arrived this past week from Fun City Editions that Greene’s film adaptation of the Audrey Erskine Lindop’s 1966 novel of the same name will be making its Blu-ray debut on Nov. 24.   This will be a new 2K film restoration from the original 35mm interpositive … and for just about everyone in the domestic market I Start Counting will be like a new movie; unseen.

For David Greene, even though he had been doing episodic television work for years (from 1953 through 1967), this was one of his early theatrical productions.  He scored critical marks for both Sebastian (1968, with Dirk Bogarde and Susannah York) and The Strange Affair (1968, with Michael York) and then got an Emmy win in 1969 for his direction of the CBS Playhouse episode titled The People Next Door (which he would remake for theatrical release in 1970 with Eli Wallach and Julie Harris in the starring roles).  

Wedged in between these was I Start Counting, which features Jenny Agutter as a 14-year old school girl named Wynne living in Bracknell on the outskirts of London.   Orphaned at a young age, she has been adopted by family, which means that her older stepbrother, George (played by the late Bryan Marshall — Quatermass and the Pit, Mosquito Squadron, Man in the Wilderness, The Spy Who Loved Me, etc.), is also her cousin and that creates a certain sexual tension.

In the meantime, she begins to put two and two together, spying on George, leads her to suspect him as the one responsible for a serial killing spree in the area.   The more she spies on him, the more the evidence mounts.   She goes so far as to share her suspicions with her schoolmate, Corinne (Clare Sutcliffe), who also has a bit of crush on George … and tries her best to “seduce” him. 

I Start Counting is a sweet little mystery that will keep you guessing right up until the final “reveal,” especially after Corinne’s clumsy moves on George gets her roughed up by him … and later she is found dead!

Bonus features include commentary from film historian Samm Deighan, a video essay by filmmaker Chris O’Neill, an extensive stills gallery and the featurette titled “A Kickstart: Jenny Agutter Remembers I Start Counting.”