I had heard about this film for years and caught the end of it on pay-tv recently. I taped it when it was shown again and I was blown away! "Jean Arliss" who is the real star of the film is fantastic in her dual role. But the dialogue is also a little off-centre and even Glen Corbett and Patricia Breslin get to engage in some of it. The eerie first 20 minutes is justly praised by all but it is the mood of the film and its puzzling construction ( where is the story heading ?; it is hard to say) which make it quite unique. The kid who played Warren as a child was so perfect that I believed his adult "look" even more and the casual conversations about sanity and homicide left me feeling like I was in another world. I think this is a really European feeling film. With wonderful atmosphere and dread , it is a classic of its kind.
Homicidal
(1961)
A strange film and stellar performance by "Jean Arliss"
30 September 2000
Warning: Spoilers