MAN BAIT is an early thriller in the career of Hammer Films director Terence Fisher, the man best known for handling all of the studio's horror classics like THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN. Although virtually unknown today, I found this film to be a strong contender in the world of 1950s British B-cinema, a tight and compelling story of deceit, mistake, blackmail, and murder. The incredibly slimy Peter Reynolds plays a controlling blackmail who involves a young Diana Dors in a plot to fleece a bookshop owner, played sympathetically by George Brent. Inevitably, things don't go quite to plan. MAN BAIT has enough twists and turns to keep any viewer entertained and the cast all do sterling work to bring their characters to life. It's also a surprisingly dark and nihilistic story, plumbing the depths of mankind, with some really vicious moments. The ending had me on the edge of my seat.
Review of Man Bait
