Paranoiac (1963) Movie Review
Written By: FR
Edited By: Grave Reviews Staff
Film Information
Director: Freddie Francis
Producer: Anthony Hinds
Writer: Josephine Tey
Date Released: May 15, 1963
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 as Publican
John Bonney as Keith Kossett
John Stuart as Williams
Rating = 2.5 /5 Graves
***May contain some spoilers***
Synopsis
After the death of wealthy Mr. and Mrs. Ashby in a plane crash, their three children were left in the care of their Aunt Harriet (Sheila Burrell). A few years later, the elder son, Tony, apparently committed suicide by jumping into the sea when he was 13 after leaving a suicide note. However, his body was never recovered. The other son, Simon, (Oliver Reed) is a cruel alcoholic, trying to have his sister, Eleanor (Janette Scott) committed for insanity so that he can be the sole heir. A few weeks before he inherits, a man (Alexander Davion) resembling an adult Tony appears. Initially he is only seen by Eleanor, who believes that her dead brother is calling her from beyond the grave. When she attempts to commit suicide, she is rescued by him. The man then claims that he is Tony and had simply run away. Eleanor believes him but Harriet calls him an impostor. In fact, he is a con man hired by Keith Kossett (John Bonney), son of the family attorney (Maurice Denham), as a way for Keith to further embezzle from the estate. The film eventually unfolds each characters’ motives revealing the truth in the end.
Gore Factor
There is not a lot of gore and blood in the film However, there are a few scenes with pseudo slasher tendencies like a hook-wielding character briefly slashes at another character. The second character is shown with blood dripping down their arm. One disturbing scene is the mummified corpse as it gets discovered and placed on display through multiple scenes. Also, there is a few intense moments when some characters are in life-threatening situations like a car with tampered breaks goes over a cliff and a building is intentionally set on fire with a character trapped inside.
The Grave Review
Paranoiac (1963) is loosely based on the 1949 crime novel Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey. It has a specific premise but a little vague in its execution. The pacing is slow and deliberate. Characters are sometimes overacting, acting crazy or screaming their lungs out.
Paranoiac is basically a story about the few remaining members of a family fighting for a piece of the heritage. The plot is just that, too thin for a feature film. The film seems to try to stretch out by adding a few irrelevant scenes to fit in its running time of 80 minutes.
The film was produced in 1963 and this is a rather conservative black and white film. It’s a decent production and still relevant in it its time. That being said, it addresses the subject of mental illness and how it affects the family as a whole. Unfortunately, the film takes too many tangents. The set design is pretty impressive in spite of the bland color. There are two or three genuinely scary scenes and a few puzzling special effects. This film is a technically sound and it features a mysterious masked antagonist that inspires fear, but it just isn’t that interesting, as a whole. However it is not memorable. It’s nothing we haven’t seen before.
For the foregoing reasons, Grave Reviews gives Paranoiac (1963) two and a half graves out of five graves.
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