English horror films from the 1950's are not known for being particularly graphic yet this is one is surprisingly bloody for the time it was made. I really liked this story of a horror writer who helps the police solve a string of murders but becomes way more involved in the killings than he should and uses hypnotism to do it. In fact, the movie was filmed in "HYPNOVISTA" which just meant a guy came on before the movie and told you about the magical powers of hypnotism and then he hypnotizes the audience and tells them they will feel like they're actually in the movie. Hypnotism plays a big part in the plot. Pretty damn cheesy but the version I saw didn't have this guy so I do feel a little cheated. You get various killings shown including a beheading, a heart stabbing, ice-tongs to the neck, death by giant 50's computer ray, death by a barrel of acid and the most famous one, a woman gets her eyes poked out by some trick binoculars with spikes that shoot out of them. The weapons used are mainly from our main character's museum of old time torture devices which he keeps in his basement and is modeled on an actual collection of that kind of stuff that Scotland Yard actually has("The Black Museum"). Check it out for some super bright red 50's blood.
This trailer gives away just about every plot point:
Wow Stevie B. ...I "Googled" trick binoculars 'cause I has a vague recolection of this movie. I'm 50 now so it was pretty vague but, suffice to say, this was it!!! Thanks..
ReplyDeleteP.S. I won't sleep for a couple of nights. :-)
Wow! Cool! Glad my blog was useful for something. :)
ReplyDeleteThis does seem like it was a bit of a traumatic movie for a lot of people who saw it when they were young.