Grip of the Strangler (1958)
Directed by Robert Day

Film Review

The Haunted Strangler (a.k.a. Grip of the Strangler) was a tailor-made production for Boris Karloff, one that was no doubt intended to capitalise on his notoriety for playing terrifying fiends which began with his now iconic portrayal of the Monster in Universal's early horror films Frankenstein (1931) and Bride of Frankenstein (1935).  The plot, based on a story by Jan Read, a personal friend of Karloff's, is really little more than a pedestrian reworking of the oft-adapted Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde tale, with a few incredible plot twists thrown in with one or two allusions to the Jack the Ripper case.  The film was made in the UK by the recently founded company Amalgamated Productions, which shot Fiend Without a Face in parallel.  Released as a double bill, the two films proved to be hugely successful, netting a worldwide profit of almost half a million dollars on a budget of just over a hundred thousand.  Even in his seventies, Karloff was still big money.

A 30-something director keen to make a name for himself, Robert Day gives The Haunted Strangler his best shot, apparently undaunted by the laboured and far from original storyline which feels like an amalgam of every previous screen version of the Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde story.  Day had a particular penchant for the fantasy genre in its various guises and is best known for his Hammer extravaganza She (1965) and Tarzan films; he also did quite a bit of television work, including several episodes of The Avengers (1967).

One notable failing of the script is that it gave Boris Karloff too much scope for hammy theatricality of the kind that was painfully noticeable in his later years.  The transformation of the main character, from a respectable and genteel writer into a deformed fiend, was an unnecessary last-minute embellishment which adds to the film's horrific impact whilst pretty well destroying its internal logic.  Some atmospheric lighting allows The Haunted Strangler to get away with this sorry self-indulgence, and once again Karloff manages to do what he did so successfully two decades previously, chilling the blood with another frighteningly authentic monster portrayal - alas, without the accompanying pathos.

Film Synopsis

In London of 1860, Edward Styles is hanged for the murder of five women.  Twenty years on, the novelist James Rankin is convinced of Styles' innocence and believes that the real killer, known as the Haymarket Strangler, is a young surgeon named Dr Tennant.  Straight after Styles' burial, Tennant mysteriously disappeared, and Rankin believes it is his duty to find him and bring him to justice.  Having dug up Styles' coffin, Rankin finds the weapon that was used to commit the murders - Tennant's surgical knife.  As soon as he touches the knife, Rankin is transformed into a deranged fiend who immediately starts killing young women.  Once he has recovered, Rankin learns the terrible truth of his identity from his wife.  He is Dr Tennant!