Let's be realistic.

Fantastic!

It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

Paul Decker (Peter Van Eyck) has come up with a unique way to murder his wife. He drugs her drink, seals the room she's in from the inside, and turns on the gas. Decker then puts on a snorkel connected to fresh air and hides in a crawlspace under the floor. Once his wife's body is found and the police complete their investigation, he climbs from his hiding spot and goes on as if nothing happened. Everything seems to be going perfectly for Decker until his stepdaughter, Candy Brown (Mandy Miller), starts to question Decker's role in her mother's death. Everyone tells Candy she's imagining things, but she's certain Decker is a killer. Can she prove it in time?Hammer is known for their vibrant color films, but when they did black and white (Paranoiac, Scream of Fear, and Nightmare for example), the results were just as solid. The Snorkel is an excellent little thriller. While there's no question as to whether or not Decker killed his wife, the fun comes in watching Candy try to prove it before Decker does her in. van Eyck is amazing. He does more with a look than most actors can with a page of dialogue. You can just see how bad he wants to kill Candy without ever having to say a word. I also enjoyed the supporting performance of Betta St. John. I'm really surprised to see she didn't do more with her career. Technically, the film is also rock solid. The cinematography is stunning. Guy Green's direction is what I'd call professional. He keeps the film moving at a nice pace. And the locations are beautiful. Most Hammer films seem so much more stage-bound than The Snorkel. Finally, I love the film's finale. I won't spoil it, but it's brilliant. Overall, it's a terrific film. My biggest complaint comes from the lack of thoroughness displayed by the police. Had the police spent more than five minutes at the crime scene, they absolutely would have found Decker hiding under the floor. It's a real lack of logic that hurts the overall movie. Still, a solid 7/10 from me.

Although the police have termed her mother's death by gas a suicide, a teenage girl (Mandy Miller) believes her step-father (Peter VanEyck) murdered her.Hammer may be best known for their horror films, but they made some pretty fine thrillers and murder mysteries, too, as this film attests. Helmed by Guy Green (who made his name under David Lean) and written by Hammer's Jimmy Sangster, this is just pure genius beginning to end.From the opening scene, we know how the killer does his work... but then we watch and see if his teenage stepdaughter can find out. Blaming someone for murder is one thing, but finding solid proof is something else entirely.

Out of Hammer Films, The Snorkel is directed by Guy Green and co-written by Anthony Dawson, Peter Myers & Jimmy Sangster. It stars Peter van Eyck, Betta St. John, Mandy Miller, Gregoire Aslan & William Franklyn (Wilson). Music is by Francis Chagrin and cinematography by Jack Asher.There is no plot synopsis needed for The Snorkel because it takes us straight into the story by having us witness the perfect murder of a wife and mother, and we know who perpetrated it as well, it's the husband! There's a gimmick, the snorkel of the title, and film's success mostly hinges on a devilish twist for the finale. In between the plot revolves around the daughter of the deceased, Candy (Miller), trying to prove her stepfather has killed her mom even though it appears near impossible for him to have done so. Naturally sadistic dad has plans for Candy as well. Coming as it did during Hammer's run of colour laden reinventions of the Universal monsters, The Snorkel, in black and white, received very little attention at home and abroad. Hammer would release in the 60s, post the success of Psycho, a number of very good black and white psychological thrillers such as Taste of Fear, Paranoiac, Nightmare and Maniac, this period of Hammer film would certainly have seen The Snorkel getting more attention publicly. However, although bad timing can account for some of the reason it was an unsuccessful release, the truth of the matter is that it's just not particularly memorable outside of the gimmick and denouement, and even then with the finale it loses dramatic impact by going on 5 minutes too long for what one imagines was a censor avoiding appeasement. A shame because acting is mostly good, Jack Asher's camera work holds the eyes and production value is higher than expected (location for the shoot was San Remo in Italy).Undeniably it's got an interesting premise at heart, but it is kind of silly when examined still further. Making this a cautiously recommended Hammer thriller for those who have yet to see the far better films of its type that the company produced in the 60s. 5/10

Sweet teenage girl Candy Brown (a fine and sympathetic performance by the cute Mandy Miller) suspects that her smooth, yet slimy stepfather Paul Decker (splendidly played to the hateful sleazy hilt by Peter van Eyck) murdered her mother and made it look like a suicide. Of course, Candy can't get anyone to believe her. Director Guy Green, working from a rather blah script by Jimmy Sangster and Peter Myers, unfortunately allows the story to unfold at a too leisurely pace and thus fails to build much in the way of suspense. Moreover, the film punks out with a disappointingly limp coda at the very end that feels tacked on. Luckily, the able cast make the most out of the so-so material: Miller makes for an attractive and appealing protagonist, van Eyck positively oozes as one extremely vile and no-count bastard, Betta St. John does well as warm and supportive nanny Jean Edwards, and Gregoire Aslan is excellent as a pragmatic French inspector. Jack Asher's crisp black and white cinematography boasts a few artful fades and dissolves. Francis Chagrin's shivery score does the spine-tingling trick. The key problem with this picture is that it's just too slow and talky for the first hour; nothing much happens until the last third when Candy and Paul engage in a deadly battle of wits that culminates in a pleasingly tense and ironic conclusion. Decent, but nothing special.