This silly thriller is another one of those late-era comedy horror films that could have easily been made by Universal in the 1940's. There are elements here that were represented much better in such favorites as the 1941 version of "The Black Cat" and "Night People", and prominently featured is Elsa Lanchester from "The Bride of Frankenstein". She doesn't appear in a high brown wig with a white streak though it, but she might as well.
All the archetypes of those types of films are here, from the well see old man married to a younger woman in this case, too, Shani Wallis, whom he divorced after dying, and Stella Stevens, whom he married at his funeral! there's an eccentric surviving sister (Lanchester) the lover of the new wife (Roddy McDowall), an amorous, perverted old barkeep (John McGiver), his shifty attorney son (Patric Knowles) and the befuddled law enforcement officer (Bernard Fox). Jamie Farr is briefly seen as a mystical character who really doesn't even say a word.
The issue is not the parody of those films. That aspect of it is terrific. It just seemed so obviously done on a sound stage with the fog machines working overtime, and obvious backdrop making it look like a cheap stage play. The conclusion is a nice twist that puts everything all together, but I'll never want to ever hear Shani Wallis singing the title song ever again.
All the archetypes of those types of films are here, from the well see old man married to a younger woman in this case, too, Shani Wallis, whom he divorced after dying, and Stella Stevens, whom he married at his funeral! there's an eccentric surviving sister (Lanchester) the lover of the new wife (Roddy McDowall), an amorous, perverted old barkeep (John McGiver), his shifty attorney son (Patric Knowles) and the befuddled law enforcement officer (Bernard Fox). Jamie Farr is briefly seen as a mystical character who really doesn't even say a word.
The issue is not the parody of those films. That aspect of it is terrific. It just seemed so obviously done on a sound stage with the fog machines working overtime, and obvious backdrop making it look like a cheap stage play. The conclusion is a nice twist that puts everything all together, but I'll never want to ever hear Shani Wallis singing the title song ever again.