(1960)
Dir - Bert I. Gordon
Overall: MEH
A conventional and dopey, psychological B-movie from writer/director/producer Bert I. Gordon, Tormented delivers some silly scares within its elementary yet sensationalized plot. It is a more intimate, stripped-down affair coming from Gordon who had previously made a name for himself with special effects showcases like The Amazing Colossal Man, Earth vs. the Spider, and Attack of the Puppet People. Though there is effects work here as well, it comes off as laughable by involving a floating head or crawling hand from a recently deceased mistress who, (as the title would suggest), spends the entire film "tormenting" her former lover that is about to marry another woman. Accompanying such set pieces is a random hodgepodge of stock music, with blaring, up-tempo jazz causing a particularly clashing effect when things are supposed to be suspenseful. Granted Richard Carlson of Creature from the Black Lagoon fame plays a jazz pianist so maybe the daft soundtrack choices were intentional, but they come off as no more or less inappropriate than in any other cheapie drive-in movie from the era. Other unintentional laughs like an obnoxious beatnik blackmailer who calls everyone "dad" every three seconds, a blind housekeeper, and uncomfortable tension between Carlson and his wife-to-be's kid sister may provide enough campy fun for some viewers.
(1967)
Dir - Curtis Harrington
Overall: MEH
Featuring early performances from both James Caan and Katherine Ross as an upper-class couple engaging in various acts of frivolous boredom that of course goes horribly awry, the simply titled Games backs itself into a predictable corner with its twists-on-top-of-twists framework. A much different follow-up for filmmaker Curtis Harrington whose previous Queen of Blood was one of the many sensationalized, drive-in genre offerings of the day to be distributed by American International Pictures, this one plays out as an elongated Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode with a dash of classic domestic financial manipulation thrown in. It is likely no accident that Les Diaboliques's Simone Signoret appears as the plot here bares several similarities to said landmark, French psychological horror film from Henri-Georges Clouzot. In fact it is too similar in structure to various other movies where a woman is clearly being driven mad by the main characters around her, (usually the husband), which unfortunately dilutes the suspense-laden impact of the final act. The one-hundred minute running time is also problematic as if feels cluttered with unnecessary filler, so the whole thing could have been punchier if told in a more compact manner.
(1969)
Dir - Walter Grauman
Overall: GOOD
This ABC Movie of the Week adaptation of Paul Gallico's 1964 novel The Hand of Mary Constable explores the usual angle of how supernatural activity emotionally effects hard-edged skeptics who are particularly susceptible to its influence, yet it also uniquely mixes it with Cold War conspiracy. Daughter of the Mind was one of many television films from director Walter Grauman and he keeps up an impressively brisk pace for something that is heavily talky and low on action. Ray Milland's grieving father is a wonderfully two-dimensional character who is a career cybernetic expert that is not prone to taking ghostly activity at face value. So, when his daughter presumably returns from the grave with vague warnings pertaining to his national security-sensitive work, he enlists someone who can utilize paranormal pseudo-science to get to the bottom of things. Some room-tapping government agents, sleeper spies, and foreign mystics later, it all uncovers a satisfyingly convoluted series of events that is played straight enough as to not become ridiculous. Perhaps the only downside for horror enthusiasts is that the would-be spooky bits do not convey a chilling atmosphere, but the presentation is compelling enough to keep the audience guessing.
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