461:(1963), this is perhaps the most bizarre, far-fetched and tasteless Grand Guignol which Jimmy Sangster has yet scripted. Freddie Francis's direction is workmanlike without being notably imaginative; he has little luck solving the familiar Hammer problems of a diffuse, loose-ended script, stock characterisation and makeshift acting. The atmosphere has little of the requisite atmosphere which one found in a Thirties film along vaguely similar lines,
320:"Tony" hears music from the family chapel at night. When he investigates, he is attacked by a masked figure with a hook. Eleanor heard the music before but was too afraid to leave her room. Simon appears to be open-minded about him but does not really believe him. Fearing that he will lose the inheritance, Simon sabotages the car when "Tony" and Eleanor go for a drive, and Eleanor is nearly killed.
471:. One finds oneself continually asking awkward questions, fatal in this kind of story which, if it is to work, needs to be consistently, rigidly stylised. An indication of the film's lack of purpose, even on its own level, is the revelation of the mummified schoolboy, shorn of all shock by its risible resemblance to a wizened old gnome."
507:-inspired thrillers produced by England's Hammer Studios during the early-to-mid-'60s" ... The plot and the devices (organ played in the middle of the night, car brakes tampered with) now seem very hackneyed. But this was very popular with rebellious teens, and the twist ending is still not easily guessable."
31:
515:
On 26 July 2010 a Blu-ray and DVD was released in the UK and made available for the first time on home video in the UK. The Blu-ray contains a restored
Cinemascope high-definition transfer, optional music and effects track, the long-unseen original trailer, and high-definition stills gallery of rare
327:
Eleanor falls in love with "Tony" and is conflicted by her seemingly-incestuous thoughts. She is about to commit suicide, but he stops her and confesses that he is not her brother. Meanwhile, Simon had an affair with
Eleanor's nurse, who guesses Simon's murder attempt and so tries to leave. When he
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Harriet appears and persuades Simon to leave since she will take care of the situation. She is unfazed at seeing the corpse and so evidently knew the truth as well. She sets the chapel on fire with a lantern to protect Simon and then leaves. Eleanor, alarmed by the fire, appears. She sees the real
331:
The fake Tony investigates the chapel and finds the real Tony's mummified body, despite
Harriet's attempt to stop him, after the struggle reveals a hidden wall. He is about to leave but is stopped by Simon, who admits he had tricked the real Tony into writing the suicide note and then murdered him
323:
That night, the music starts again. Eleanor and "Tony" investigate and see Simon playing the organ with a masked singer, but the singing emerges to be a recording. Eleanor is spotted by the masked person, who emerges with the hook but is stopped by "Tony." The masked person is revealed to be Aunt
324:
Harriet, who explains that Simon has been driven insane by guilt over Tony's death. The ritual calms Simon by allowing him to pretend that his brother is still alive. He plays a recording of Tony singing, Simon plays the organ, and
Harriet is a masked "singer" and plays Tony's part.
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The man claims to be Tony and that he simply ran away. Eleanor believes him, but
Harriet calls him an impostor. In fact, he is a conman, who was hired by Keith Kossett (Bonney), the son of the family attorney, to allow Kossett to keep embezzling from the estate.
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They flee the chapel, and since it is ablaze and Tony's body is inside, Simon's madness overwhelms him. He staggers to the chapel to try to "rescue" Tony but is trapped by the flames and is overcome as he clutches Tony's skeletal remains.
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Only three weeks before he inherits, a man resembling an adult Tony appears. Initially, he is seen only by
Eleanor, who believes that her dead brother is calling her from beyond the grave. She is rescued by him during a suicide attempt.
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After the wealthy Mr. and Mrs. Ashby die in a plane crash, their three children were left in the care of their Aunt
Harriet. Three years later, the elder son, Tony, jumped into the sea when he was 15 after he had left a
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When the fake Tony comes to his senses, Simon plays the organ with the real Tony's body now seated on a chair. Simon informs the impostor that he and Tony had a talk and have decided to have the impostor "join" Tony.
309:, but his body was never recovered. Eight years later, the younger son, Simon, is a cruel spendthrift alcoholic, who tries to have his sister, Eleanor, committed for insanity so that he can be the sole heir.
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gave the film 3/5 stars, writing: "This is one of the best of a cycle of psychological horror films Hammer made in the 1960s."
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stops her, she threatens to expose him, which makes him drown her in the garden pond. Simon tells
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531:. The set was re-released on Blu-ray 13 September 2016. On 8 February 2022,
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467:(1940), nor, by any stretch of the imagination, is Oliver Reed a young
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was first released theatrically in the United States, opening in
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and that he had sabotaged the car. Simon slugs and binds him.
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597:. 24 January 1964. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.
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576:. 15 May 1963. p. 17 – via Newspapers.com.
527:(ASIN: B0009X770O), which is part of MCA-Universal's
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released a collector's edition Blu-ray of the film.
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658:(348): 146. 1 January 1963 – via ProQuest.
701:(7th ed.). London: Paladin. p. 779.
516:materials (exclusive to the Blu-ray version).
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422:on 15 May 1963. It opened in January 1964 in
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751:"Paranoiac [Collectors' Edition]"
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625:British Film Institute Collections Search
1515:Films with screenplays by Jimmy Sangster
782:. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland.
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449:wrote: "A thinly disguised variation on
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724:"Paranoiac (1963) - Review - AllMovie"
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340:Tony's body and unties the fake Tony.
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1490:Hammer Film Productions horror films
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16:1963 British film by Freddie Francis
591:"Picture Preview Next Week's Films"
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1495:Films directed by Freddie Francis
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971:Mumsy, Nanny, Sonny and Girly
907:Dr. Terror's House of Horrors
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282:. The screenplay, written by
1520:1960s English-language films
399:John Bonney as Keith Kossett
384:Liliane Brousse as Françoise
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1485:Films set in country houses
1354:Dracula: Prince of Darkness
1186:The Revenge of Frankenstein
947:They Came from Beyond Space
778:Keaney, Michael F. (2010).
568:"Paramount Has 'Paranoiac'"
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1266:The Siege of Sidney Street
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1011:Tales That Witness Madness
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891:The Evil of Frankenstein
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1282:The Terror of the Tongs
780:British Film Noir Guide
674:Immediate Media Company
433:The Kiss of the Vampire
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166:Hammer Film Productions
1480:British thriller films
1362:Deadlier Than the Male
1330:The Devil-Ship Pirates
1218:The Trollenberg Terror
1035:Legend of the Werewolf
699:Halliwell's Film Guide
260:psychological thriller
177:Rank Film Distributors
1250:The Brides of Dracula
987:The Vampire Happening
676:. 2017. p. 702.
191:15 May 1963
1410:Scream, Pretty Peggy
1210:Blood of the Vampire
995:Tales from the Crypt
859:Two and Two Make Six
529:Franchise Collection
1525:1960s British films
1154:A Man on the Beach
1127:Lust for a Vampire
1003:The Creeping Flesh
845:Films directed by
722:Guarisco, Donald.
440:Critical reception
258:is a 1963 British
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131:Arthur Grant
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1202:The Snorkel
1111:As director
646:"Paranoiac"
621:"Paranoiac"
608:Keaney 2010
545:Gaslighting
477:Radio Times
455:(1961) and
428:double bill
405:as Williams
403:John Stuart
396:as publican
390:as RAF type
388:Harold Lang
361:Oliver Reed
289:Brat Farrar
272:Oliver Reed
141:James Needs
110:Oliver Reed
88:Produced by
76:Brat Farrar
41:Directed by
1465:1963 films
1459:Categories
1418:The Legacy
1059:Dark Tower
708:0586088946
630:8 February
551:References
511:Home media
491:(1960) by
231:80 minutes
210:1964-01-26
195:1963-05-15
158:Production
51:Written by
1386:Crescendo
1346:The Nanny
1322:Nightmare
1306:Paranoiac
1242:The Mummy
1146:As writer
1102:Films by
1043:The Ghoul
923:The Skull
883:Nightmare
875:Paranoiac
867:The Brain
805:Paranoiac
735:16 August
416:Paranoiac
255:Paranoiac
137:Edited by
24:Paranoiac
1338:Hysteria
915:Hysteria
761:Archived
729:AllMovie
539:See also
499:AllMovie
436:(1963).
244:Language
147:Music by
98:Starring
71:Based on
1178:Dracula
772:Sources
411:Release
247:English
236:Country
208: (
193: (
160:company
1445:(1981)
1437:(1981)
1429:(1979)
1421:(1978)
1413:(1973)
1405:(1972)
1397:(1971)
1389:(1970)
1381:(1970)
1373:(1968)
1365:(1967)
1357:(1966)
1349:(1965)
1341:(1965)
1333:(1964)
1325:(1964)
1317:(1963)
1314:Maniac
1309:(1963)
1301:(1962)
1293:(1961)
1285:(1961)
1277:(1961)
1269:(1960)
1261:(1960)
1253:(1960)
1245:(1959)
1237:(1959)
1229:(1959)
1221:(1958)
1213:(1958)
1205:(1958)
1197:(1958)
1189:(1958)
1181:(1958)
1173:(1957)
1165:(1956)
1157:(1955)
1138:(1972)
1130:(1971)
1122:(1970)
1062:(1987)
1054:(1985)
1046:(1975)
1038:(1975)
1030:(1974)
1022:(1974)
1014:(1973)
1006:(1973)
998:(1972)
990:(1971)
982:(1970)
974:(1970)
966:(1968)
958:(1967)
950:(1967)
942:(1967)
934:(1966)
926:(1965)
918:(1965)
910:(1965)
902:(1964)
894:(1964)
886:(1964)
878:(1963)
870:(1962)
862:(1962)
786:
705:
680:
504:Psycho
489:Psycho
458:Maniac
424:London
278:, and
216:London
214: (
199: (
1027:Craze
430:with
426:as a
979:Trog
810:IMDb
784:ISBN
737:2012
703:ISBN
678:ISBN
632:2024
475:The
348:Cast
300:Plot
808:at
519:In
292:by
80:by
1461::
759:.
753:.
726:.
656:30
654:.
648:.
623:.
593:.
582:^
570:.
559:^
296:.
274:,
270:,
1095:e
1088:t
1081:v
838:e
831:t
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792:.
739:.
711:.
686:.
634:.
218:)
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197:)
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