Freddie Francis' debut at Hammer is a slick psycho-thriller, with the usual quota of twists and turns which Jimmy Sangster put into all of his Hammer suspense pictures. Apart from the plot, which is the one from the B/W thriller cycle that can most justifiably be said to reflect the influence of Hitchcock's Psycho, the film's major assets are Francis' classy cinematography and Oliver Reed's terrific performance as a hard drinking, self-centred and homicidal nutcase. The Ashbys' mansion is cannily lit and filmed to resemble a sinister, gothic old dark house, while the creepy organ playing at dead of night, Simon's cobwebbed secret lair and a vicious assailant in a hideous mask add further 'traditional horror' touches. Janette Scott rather lets the side down with her patchy portrayal of the haunted heiress (sometimes fine, sometimes insipidly unconvincing) and Alex Davion (later to be seen in Plague Of The Zombies) is also somewhat bland. Luckily Reed and the ever reliable Sheila Burrell are on hand, also small roles are filled by stalwart British thesps Harold Lang, Sydney Bromley and Marianne Stone. Elisabeth Lutyens provides a perfect, unsettling score.
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