Paranoiac (film)
| Paranoiac | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Freddie Francis |
| Written by | Josephine Tey |
| Screenplay by | Jimmy Sangster |
| Produced by | Anthony Hinds |
| Starring | Janette Scott Oliver Reed Sheila Burrell Alexander Davion |
| Cinematography | Arthur Grant |
| Edited by | James Needs |
| Music by | Elisabeth Lutyens |
| Distributed by | Hammer Films (UK), Universal Pictures (U.S.A.) |
Release dates |  May 15, 1963 26 January 1964 |
Running time | 100 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Paranoiac is a 1963 British suspense film from Hammer Films directed by Freddie Francis and starring Janette Scott, Oliver Reed, Sheila Burrell, and Alexander Davion. The screenplay was written by Jimmy Sangster, based loosely on the 1949 crime novel, Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey.
Synopsis
Simon Ashby (Reed) is trying to drive his sister, Eleanor (Scott) insane, so that he can inherit the estate of their deceased parents. But when a mysterious man (Davion) appears, claiming to be their long-lost brother Tony, Simon's plans are thwarted. Simon vows to get revenge on the man and eliminate his sister in the process.
Eight years earlier, when Tony was a youth, he had left a suicide note and had apparently jumped off a seacoast cliff, but his body had never been recovered. A grown man resembling Tony appears, claiming that he had simply run off. Eleanor wants to believe that the man is Tony. Harriet Ashby (Burrell), their Aunt, is immediately hostile and calls the man an impostor. Simon pretends to be more open-minded about the situation.
However, Simon knows the man is an impostor, because he had actually tricked Tony into writing the suicide note, and then murdered him. Filled with remorse over his crime, he had then hidden the body behind a brick wall in a chapel on the estate (these facts are not revealed until near the end of the film). From time to time, when depressed, Simon would retreat to the chapel and act out a scene in which he would pretend his brother was still alive. He would play a phonograph record of Tony singing, while Simon would play the organ, in the company of a masked maniac, who would also play the part of the dead brother.One night "Tony" is attacked by the masked maniac with a bale hook while watching Simon plays the organ.The next night "Tony" and Eleanor stealthily observe this ritual through a window. Eleanor is spotted by the masked maniac out of the corner of her eye. The masked maniac slips outside and tries to attack Eleanor, but is stopped by "Tony", the person in the mask is revealed to be Aunt Harriet. The Aunt then explains about the ritual, and blames "Tony" for awakening Simon's psychosis after it had seemingly been dormant for years.
Eleanor finds she is falling in love with her supposed brother. Overcome with conflict over her seemingly incestuous thoughts, she is about to commit suicide, when the man restrains her and confesses that he is not her brother Tony, but instead is a con man hired by the embezzling Keith Kossett (Bonney), son of the family attorney (Denham).
The fake Tony investigates the chapel, and finds Tony's mummified body. He is about to leave, but is stopped by Simon, who fills in the missing plot details about having killed Tony. Simon then slugs the man and binds him to a pillar. When the man comes to, Simon is playing the organ, with the real Tony's body now seated on a chair next to the organ. Simon informs the impostor that he and Tony have had a talk and have decided to have the man "join" Tony. Harriet appears, and persuades Simon to leave; that she will take care of the situation. Unfazed at seeing the corpse, it is evident that she also knew the truth.
After Simon leaves, Harriet throws down a lantern, setting the chapel afire, and she rushes off. Eleanor quickly turns up, unties the fake Tony, and sees the real Tony's body briefly. Eleanor and the man flee the estate rather than returning to the house. With the chapel ablaze and Tony's body inside, Simon's madness takes him over. He leaves the house and staggers to the chapel to try to "rescue" Tony, but collapses as he clutches Tony's skeletal remains. The fire rages on as the film ends.
Cast
- Janette Scott as Eleanor Ashby
- Oliver Reed as Simon Ashby
- Sheila Burrell as Aunt Harriet
- Maurice Denham as John Kossett
- Alexander Davion as Tony Ashby
- Liliane Brousse as Françoise
- Harold Lang as RAF Type
- Arnold Diamond
- John Bonney as Keith Kossett
- John Stuart as Williams
Release
Critical reception
AllMovie called the film a "solid if not entirely satisfying entry in the wave of Psycho-inspired thrillers produced by England's Hammer Studios during the early- to mid-'60s."[1]
Home video
On July 26, 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 & effects track, the long-unseen original trailer, and high-definition stills gallery of rare materials (exclusive to Blu-ray version).
In North America, the film had been released on September 6, 2005 along with seven other Hammer horror films on the 4-DVD set The Hammer Horror Series (ASIN: B0009X770O), which is part of MCA-Universal's Franchise Collection.
References
- ^ Guarisco, Donald. "Paranoiac (1963) - Review - AllMovie". AllMovie. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
