I had been waiting several years to catch this, after reading the rave review it got in a book on cult movies, but have to say it was quite disappointing. It certainly isn't particularly frightening and contains few psychological insights. Reeves, the 25 year old director who killed himself shortly after this was made, is clearly in command of neither his craft or his material. Examples: Embarrassingly weak day-for-night photography, poor direction of minor characters (some of them just aren't believable at all) and most critically, he just does not do a good enough job of depicting Richard Marshall's rage and thirst for vengeance - it just doesn't come across until the final scene - all of a sudden he's screaming like a madman and it simply isn't a logical result of what's gone before.
Vincent Price is quite good, of course, and I'm not suggesting that Reeves doesn't show some flourishes at times but I think most viewers will find the whole enterprise ragtag and amateurish. If I had stumbled across it some night without all the hype, probably would've enjoyed it a little more.
Vincent Price is quite good, of course, and I'm not suggesting that Reeves doesn't show some flourishes at times but I think most viewers will find the whole enterprise ragtag and amateurish. If I had stumbled across it some night without all the hype, probably would've enjoyed it a little more.