Directed by:
Freddie FrancisScreenplay:
Jimmy SangsterCinematography:
Arthur GrantComposer:
Elisabeth LutyensCast:
Janette Scott, Oliver Reed, Maurice Denham, John Stuart, Sydney Bromley, Marianne Stone, John Bonney, Arnold Diamond, Harold Lang, Alexander Davion (more)Plots(1)
While the wealthy Ashby siblings - brutish alcoholic Simon (Oliver Reed) and his emotionally unstable sister, Eleanor (Janette Scott) - are waiting to come into their vast family trust fund, Simon plots to have his sister certified insane after she claims to have seen an apparition of their long-dead brother, Tony (Alexander Davion), wandering around the estate. (Final Cut Entertainment)
(more)Reviews (2)
An unusual Hammer movie; not a horror film, but an excellent psychological thriller, a foreshadowing of all those masked killers with something sharp in their hands (about a minute of pure time), solid atmosphere, a brilliant Reed, and a lovely Janette Scott.
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"Paranoiac" is definitely a horror movie worth remembering. Its atmosphere is incredibly dense, partly because there are no unnecessary scenes. You constantly have the feeling that everything you're watching is absolutely necessary to achieve the desired goal, which is the climax in those final minutes. Yes, you might start suspecting the killer a little earlier, but that doesn't matter in this case at all. It's a great atmospheric horror with fewer characters and in a small space, something that many filmmakers today often fail to achieve.
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