A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

.Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

What starts off like a lamb and explodes into the tenseness of a T-Rex is a Southern family drama by the author of "The Little Foxes", Miss Lillian Hellman, who writes of a neurotic family torn apart by emotions that one wants to make them a little too close for comfort, one has abandoned for the desires of the world, and the other sits sadly by watching it all fall apart. Like other plays by Tennessee Williams, William Inge, August Wilson and Horton Foote, the lives of these families are baked in secrets, emotional torture, and the darkness of the soul which can only lead to ultimate destruction through death, abandonment or the most horrific of punishments, the truth.The story focuses on three siblings-the cheery Geraldine Page who is on the surface sweet but hiding an emotional secret destined to destroy her, the quiet Wendy Hiller who can only shake her head as everything around her drowns, and the gregarious drifter Dean Martin who left home to seek his fortune, and now returns with wife Yvette Mimieux whose mother he apparently took money from to marry her and get Mimieux from under mama's hair. Mama (Gene Tierney) seemingly has her eye on Dean, even though she's got a light skinned black man whom she keeps company with. Yvette is upset when she spots Dean with the abused wife Nan Martin whose husband (Larry Gates) verbally assaults her as if she was the most vile substance under his shoe. "If one of my clients drinks to the point of throwing up on the dining room table, you will sit there and smile", he tells her, and this leads to an even more horrific moment that utilizes an extremely violent visual to bring everything out to a gruesome psychological climax.These are not happy people, and the seemingly happy relationship between the three siblings is a total lie. Geraldine Page by this time had established herself with two Tennessee Williams stories ("Summer and Smoke" and "Sweet Bird of Youth") as the portrayer of seemingly happy but ultimately miserable heroines, and like the mother in "The Glas Menagerie", she is living in a past which probably never existed for her. Hiller's performance is mostly through her eyes, saying a lot with very little, and she is outstanding. Slightly miscast, Dean Martin is very jarring as their brother, but Mimieux is appropriately fragile as the young wife who doesn't want to see the world fall apart around her but realizes that it is pretty much inevitable.There's a nice supporting performance by Gene Tierney in the rather small role of Mimieux's mother, still as glamorous as she was in 1944's "Laura" and quite handsome even with just a wisp of gray hair. Poor Nan Martin's character is just on the cusp of being revealed. Dean indicates that there's more to the eye for her than what his wife sees, so it is never really made clear if he is just helping her try to get away from the hateful Gates (in a role far away from his Emmy winning role as kindly patriarch H.B. on "Guiding Light"), and that she is actually truly on the side of the marriage. Where the blame lies for all this drama is never really made clear, but so is the blame in life. Psychological torture knows no villains, even if Gates is obviously cruel and spiteful, and the real villain is a surprise to be held in a climax that is riveting and makes you drop your mouth in shock.I would love to see what this had to explore as a play as the film is only 90 minutes, and the play was obviously a bit longer. The black and white photography is excellent, as is the set of the house where the two sisters live. Amazing opening credits with a sort of 3-D look get your attention from the start. This is a thinking man's drama, certainly not perfect, but then, the best things in life never really are.

Lillian Hellman may be the most overrated playwright of her era. For every interesting or provocative thought, there's a ton of symbolic cabbage and sticky milieu to wade through. This too-handsome filming of her play stars Geraldine Page and Wendy Hiller as unmarried sisters living in New Orleans welcoming home their ne'er-do-well brother, who arrives bearing gifts and ill-gotten cash. It's an overheated piece of would be-Gothic melodrama, given a luxurious sheen and a swooning, romantic score (both incongruous to the material at hand). Well-cast Hiller and Page are excellent, trading niceties which quickly turn to hurtful revelations and stinging truths, but Dean Martin seems out of place as their beloved sibling. Working very hard in a part which might have been perfect for George Hamilton, Martin brings with him too much charismatic star-baggage to the already-phony surroundings. George Roy Hill directs poorly, indifferently, and the opening scenes are so confusing that patience and interest are both enormously tried even before Hill gets to the second act. ** from ****

When Lillian Hellman wrote this play, I doubt she had Dean Martin in mind for the male lead when it hit the screen. In truth, he isn't bad. He may have been cast to provide some box office. If he did, that's good. He contributes nothing else, however.Similarly, the beautiful Yvette Mimieux is wildly miscast as his insecure wife.Thankfully, much of the other actors are at home in this film and this sort of film. They give good performances.Geraldine Page is in fine form as one of Martin's two spinster sisters. It isn't a subtle performance but it works very well. Wendy Hiller, as the other sister, does give a subtle performance. She is not authentically Southern; but for a good actor that makes no difference. (Think, for starters, Vivian Leigh in "GWTW.") Gene Tierney is also on-hand. Though she'd had a troubled life, she'd matured well. She was never a great actress but she had screen presence and she is right for her part here.I was familiar with the play and wondered if the movie would include its most controversial aspect. (Can't give it away.) To my surprise, it does; and it's very effective.Please note: I have nothing against Dean Martin. He is fun in "Kiss Me Stupid." But he was essentially a singer and comic performer. This movie contains no songs and is anything but comic. Had his and Mimieux's parts been cast more according to the script, the movie could indeed have been extremely, rather than occasionally, powerful.

George Roy Hill, Lillian Hellman, Geraldine Page, Wendy Hiller, Dean Martin, Yvette Mimieux, Bill Thomas (costumes) and lastly but always outstanding Gene Tierney. What a great grouping of actors, writers, director and costumes as well all else fits together in this film. Over 40 years have passed as has most of the cast, but this film still holds together very well. Geraldine Page is always good and captures the somewhat crazed Carrie charactor beautifully. Dean Martin has always been over looked as an actor and really proves his worth in this role. George Roy Hill keeps things moving and all and everyone else keep plenty of grease and batter on this fine batch of southern fried chicken. Treat yourself to a really fine movie, it is worth it all just for a look at the talented Madame Tierney.