Film Review
The Haunted Strangler (a.k.a.
Grip of the Strangler) was a
tailor-made production for Boris Karloff, one that was no doubt
intended to capitalise on his notoriety for playing terrifying fiends
which began with his now iconic portrayal of the Monster in Universal's
early horror films
Frankenstein (1931) and
Bride of Frankenstein
(1935). The plot, based on a story by Jan Read, a personal friend
of Karloff's, is really little more than a pedestrian reworking of the
oft-adapted
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
tale, with a few incredible plot twists thrown in with one or two
allusions to the Jack the Ripper case. The film was made in the
UK by the recently founded company Amalgamated Productions, which shot
Fiend Without a Face in
parallel. Released as a double bill, the two films proved to be
hugely successful, netting a worldwide profit of almost half a million
dollars on a budget of just over a hundred thousand. Even in his
seventies, Karloff was still big money.
A 30-something director keen to make a name for himself, Robert Day
gives
The Haunted Strangler
his best shot, apparently undaunted by the laboured and far from
original storyline which feels like an amalgam of every previous screen
version of the
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
story. Day had a particular penchant for the fantasy genre in its
various guises and is best known for his Hammer extravaganza
She (1965)
and Tarzan films; he also did quite a bit of television work, including
several episodes of
The Avengers
(1967).
One notable failing of the script is that it gave Boris Karloff too
much scope for hammy theatricality of the kind that was painfully
noticeable in his later years. The transformation of the main
character, from a respectable and genteel writer into a deformed fiend,
was an unnecessary last-minute embellishment which adds to the film's
horrific impact whilst pretty well destroying its internal logic.
Some atmospheric lighting allows
The
Haunted Strangler to get away with this sorry self-indulgence,
and once again Karloff manages to do what he did so successfully two
decades previously, chilling the blood with another frighteningly
authentic monster portrayal - alas, without the accompanying pathos.
© James Travers 2015
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Film Synopsis
In London of 1860, Edward Styles is hanged for the murder of five
women. Twenty years on, the novelist James Rankin is convinced of
Styles' innocence and believes that the real killer, known as the
Haymarket Strangler, is a young surgeon named Dr Tennant.
Straight after Styles' burial, Tennant mysteriously disappeared, and
Rankin believes it is his duty to find him and bring him to
justice. Having dug up Styles' coffin, Rankin finds the weapon
that was used to commit the murders - Tennant's surgical knife.
As soon as he touches the knife, Rankin is transformed into a deranged
fiend who immediately starts killing young women. Once he has
recovered, Rankin learns the terrible truth of his identity from his
wife. He is Dr Tennant!
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.