Wonderful character development!

The Worst Film Ever

Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Highly Overrated But Still Good

...and only one,I might choose this one .This is a far-fetched absorbing story of lunacy where the audience never really knows who the madcaps are.A screenplay which smartly blends imposture,degenerate ways,Poesque horror and romantic love .Oliver Reed shines in his part of a fallen aristocrat.His first appearance is worth the price of admission:as the priest is ranting about the young man tossed by the tides of misfortune ,he's pumping the organ ,smoking a cigarette in a slovenly way.The screenplay is much less derivative than the other Hammer productions -it does not match the MTV Hammer house of horror "child's play" though-and compares favorably with Val Lewton/Mark Robson's works.A short flick ,but never a dull moment.

The film is about a dysfunctional English family who make the folks on the Jerry Springer show seem very normal in comparison! It seems that many years earlier, two rich parents were killed in a traffic accident--leaving their three children to be raised by a nutty aunt. However, only a few years later, one of the sons apparently kills himself--leaving a flaky and emotionally fragile daughter and a son who is a spoiled little monster. This spoiled monster is played by Oliver Reed and he looked like he was having fun with this vivid role--drinking, being emotionally unstable and being an all-around jerk! The sister, never the poster child for sound mental health, begins insisting that she's seen and heard the other brother--even though he is dead. When he actually turns up alive some time later, you are left wondering if this really is the dead brother or if it's a con man. Due to this return, however, Reed begins acting much more unstable and kooky--as this reappearance has apparently pushed him over the edge of sanity.How all this is resolved will keep you guessing and the film is a lot of fun even though it isn't exactly subtle. And, when the mysteries are all unraveled, you probably will like the the nice twists and turns. In many ways, the movie seems inspired by films such as PSYCHO and PARANOIAC in turn seems to be, at least in part, the inspiration for future films like STRAIGHT-JACKET--all shrill but exciting suspense films.

An impostor claiming to be Tony(Alexander Davion), a young man who had been recorded as having thrown himself over a cliff many years ago, shakes the already fragile foundation of a family riddled with psychological turmoil. Aunt Harriet(Sheila Burrell)has been trying to keep what's left of the Ashby family together despite obvious problems stemming from the loss of parents and Tony, a young 15 year old deemed as so depressed he committed suicide from sadness. Simon Ashby has spent practically his entire inheritance on booze and a fancy sports car & wants sister Eleanor's(Janette Scott)share of wealth as well. Since Tony's demise, Eleanor, who was very close to him, has been battling mental health issues. Simon has been yearning for her to completely slip off the deep end so he can gain her inheritance if the poor girl was locked away in an asylum. Meanwhile, Harriet tries to keep Simon from ruining himself on liquor among other things. As this man claiming to be Tony shows up into the picture, Simon really begins to teeter on the brink and we watch as he plans to murder his brother..and Eleanor..when his alternatives in gaining extra cash seem skittish at best.Hammer tries their hand at a psychological family tragedy where deception and attempts at murder weigh heavy in the story. Acting is the key ingredient..that and a little twist concerning Tony. Tony's ghost haunts this film throughout as every character, including the impostor, can not shake his looming shadow overhead. Something's got to give as Simon is so sociopathic and greedy..yet, there's something in this story, regarding Tony, that has him even wound tighter. The film has another interesting aspect that plays out as it continues..the impostor is falling in love with Eleanor, and it's easy to see why because Janette Scott imbues her with so many wonderful traits such as her innocence, gentleness & warmth..and, it doesn't hurt that she's quite striking on the eyes.Oliver Reed is so intense as Simon, someone clearly with a few screws that have loosened over the years, he's a force-of-nature. He IS the movie as the alcoholic basketcase willing to do whatever it takes to seize on an inheritance others stand in his way of receiving.But, the film is ultimately about, to me anyway, the inability to escape your guilt regarding past acts and undiscovered secrets that suffocate you. The avarice of greed is also a heavy theme as Simon would do anything to gain that extra bit to supply his alcohol habit which will drown away iniquities of the past.

The first of Hammer's psycho thrillers but not one it's best. Maybe I shouldn't have watched it so soon after the excellent 'Nightmare', or indeed before it but there you go. Similar to 'Nightmare' in that it was scripted by Jimmy Sangster and directed by Freddie Francis, and again a plot revolving around who is mad, and who isn't, the film is only effective occasionally. There's cash to be inherited and Oliver Reed wants it, and he doesn't want to share it with his sister, Jeanette Scott. When Scott apparently sees her long-dead brother at a memorial service for her parents, Reed sees this as the excuse he needs to declare her insane and keep all the cash for himself. But to throw a spanner in the works, the dead brother turns up...... This is a competent film but needed a bit more. Francis makes the film look too bright, a few more dark corners and shadows would have helped build the atmosphere some. Reed's acting doesn't shift from 'intense' mode, which is fine but a bit more ambiguity would have helped in this type of film. The plot plods along at times and could have done with being tightened; there's also plot lines that simply disappear as if Sangster had forgotten about them. At the end of the day a mediocre Hammer. Watch Nightmare to see how it should have been done.