Chad

clckworang

I guess this was really more of a film noir with some horror trappings, but there's nothing wrong with that. I love a good film noir. Mr. X himself was sufficiently slimy, so it was a nice twist when they reveal the husband is alive and even more slimy. I didn't expect the redemption arc for Mr. X, but it worked. It cracked me up how quickly the other woman got taken in by him.

Spiderbite

One word of warning right off the bat...don't watch the Prime version. It is obviously from an old DVD or even VHS transfer and the print is awful. Lots of scratches, tears, soundtrack hiss throughout, etc. I was disappointed to find that there are a lot better transfers of this out there. I feel like I wasted my time watching this great movie on Prime assuming they would have the best version on their service.

I really enjoyed this one. Kinda reminded me of Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte but obviously this came long before that movie.

This was a much better "drive a person crazy" movie than the other one in the subset list, Libido. The techniques they were using really did seem like it might drive the woman nutty and wasn't overinflated. My main question is how did the "dead" husband expect to get the money? Was he just going to depend on Alexis giving it to him? His whole motivation and the way he went about it was slightly confusing for me.

I have to say I actually got chill bumps when the dead husband showed up in the door during the "real" seance. There are some really nice effects in this along with an enjoyable music score. The portrayal by the actor who played Alexis is quite charming and believable in his role. Very, very enjoyable!

My rating: ****1/2 out of *****

By the way...the actor playing the crow's voice cracked me up. Pretty terrible.

brainee

I liked the bit of misdirection the movie did at the very beginning. Christine at the window and you see a shadow coming at her from behind holding a gun. And it's just her little sister holding a hairbrush. A nice bit of foreshadowing about the themes of how things sometimes aren't what they appear to be.

I liked the "face" turn by Mr. X as well. A lot of these movies are so predictable, so I really appreciate a twist I didn't coming. Mr. X ended up being like Star-Lord: "I may be an a-hole. But I'm not 100% dick."

He had one hell of a show for his seance too. Maybe there was more money in scamming vulnerable women, but unlike the detective he seems like he could've had a career in magic.

That's the thing with a lot of these older movies ... relationships moved at warp speed. Couple meets and are antagonistic to each other. Then there's some friendly banter. Then they're madly in love and getting married.

You had to admire how smooth Mr. X was in playing Janet. "Even though you're the younger sister ... you've always been the more mature of the two." "Why yes ... yes I am!" Played her like a fiddle

Undeadcow

Nice pick. I went in blind expecting some cheesy bmovie but this was a rich mystery film. The atmosphere was great, the whole film felt forlorn - visuals like waves crashing ashore worked well. The weakest part was the lovecrazy sister who was just duped from go but the theatrical acting was solid all around. It was a good ride but if I stop and think about how to trick my wife into mortal fear of my death and supernatural haunting I am stumped and even here it stretches plausibility a bit.

The ghost scene was pretty far out, ambiguous but creepy.

numbercrunch

Ive watched this a couple times now and its a solid Noir thriller. Turhan Bey chews up the scenes.

jholmes

My first watch of this one. Hubs and I enjoyed it. I love 40's films, especially noir, and this one was interesting with the whole medium/seance/trickery angle. But the "ghost" that appeared in her bedroom at the start -- not sure how they made that happen. But anywho, an interesting film. it dragged a bit int he middle. I'd never heard of it before, but there weren't a lot of horror options for 1948, so I suggested it. Glad it turned out to be decent. My rating 3/5 stars.

Obi-Wanma

I watched this yesterday, and thought it was a fun little movie.Nice pick. Didn't see the husband being alive or Alexis being the hero. Always fun when you can't predict every turn.