Paranoiac (1963)
Directed by Freddie Francis

Film Review

With one successful psycho-thriller under its belt -Taste of Fear (1961) - the British film company Hammer found it had acquired a lucrative sideline to its series of Gothic horror films, and others were to come in quick succession.  Paranoiac is arguably the most effective of Hammer's low budget thrillers and feels unnervingly  like a Daphne du Maurier attempt at a slasher movie, so charged with atmosphere and brooding anticipation that an attack of goose pimples is inevitable as you sit and ingest the twisted narrative through to its gruesome denouement.  It's formulaic stuff, with stock characters and an ending that cheekily mirrors that of Hitchcock's Pyscho (complete with mummified corpse), but it's supremely effective and offers some of the most nightmare-inducing images you will find in any Hammer film.

Although notionally based on a novel by Josephine Tey, of which Hammer bought the rights a decade back, Paranoiac owes more to the warped imagination of Hammer's regular (and best) screenwriter Jimmy Sangster.  Although set in the present day, the film has an unmistakably Gothic aura to it, which becomes more noticeable as it progresses.  A shadowy old dark house inhabited by an odd assortment of characters exhibiting varying degrees of mental aberration is a suitably eerie setting for a murky intrigue revolving around stolen identity and guilt for past crimes.  Freddie Francis's direction here is superior to almost anything else he put his name to, with some moody lighting and smart editing helping to ratchet up the tension and distract us from the gaping holes in the pretty ludicrous plot.

Before he became an international star and one of Britain's most renowned screen actors Oliver Reed cut his acting teeth as a contract player for Hammer, bringing an electrifying presence to every one of the films he made for the company.  As the completely demented male lead in Paranoic Reed is absolutely in his element, revelling in playing one of the most nauseous and terrifyingly unpredictable characters in his repertoire.  It is a part that allows Reed to go way, way over the top - so far over the top that you'd think he was strength testing the sound recording equipment - and what we are subjected to is a manically exaggerated version of the kind of role in which the actor would later excel.  When Reed goes full throttle he is deliriously compelling, although his full-frontal histrionic assault is definitely not recommended viewing for those of a nervous disposition.

With Oliver Reed going seriously off the rails you'd think that his co-stars would hardly get a look in.  Not so.  Janette Scott grabs her share of the limelight as the Gothic-framed heroine who, as Reed's sister, evinces something of his uncontrollable insanity, albeit in a more palatable dose.  Sheila Burrell is just as unsettling as the mysterious aunt who is clearly sitting on a powder keg of explosive secrets.  Alexander Davion (later to find fame as Chief Inspector David Keen in the 1960s television series Gideon C.I.D.) is saddled with the dullest character but somehow makes him a sympathetic hero, a suitably bland foil to Reed's monstrous excesses.  Sharper than an excessively honed razor blade, the performances here have a dangerous edge that was often lacking in Hammer's films of this era.  This gives a heightened reality to the film's more horrific moments, the greatest of which is the scene where what appears to be an altar boy with a sinister cherub-like mask suddenly emerges from the shadows and gives us the full slasher treatment.  It's the nearest thing Hammer gave us to the shower scene in Hitchcock's most famous film - guaranteed to make you jump out of your seat.

Film Synopsis

Since the tragic death of their parents in a plane crash, Simon and Eleanor Ashby have lived under the care of their kindly Aunt Harriet at their large country house.  The suicide of an older brother, Tony, eight years ago continues to haunt both siblings, but as Eleanor shows signs of insanity Simon lives the life of a reckless spendthrift.  Simon is desperate to get his hands on his inheritance and so he is understandably shaken when a young man shows up unexpectedly, claiming to be Tony.  The stranger certainly has some physical resemblance to the supposedly dead brother, and he knows far more than he should.  But, convincing as he is, both Simon and Aunt Harriet know that he is an impostor.  Whoever he is, this stranger will have to disposed of, along with Eleanor, before Simon's dark secret is revealed...