Grip of the Strangler (1958)

"The Haunted Strangler" is an unusual beast for a horror movie. It makes the surprising decision to feature no surprise. There is never any question of who the killer is because the movie tells you early on. It doesn't even end with a twist.There are examples of this being done well with horror movies and thrillers, usually when the aim is to disturb, rather than scare the audience. Consider films like "American Psycho", where you already know the guy on screen is a killer. The suspense comes from wondering who they'll off next. "The Haunted Strangler" doesn't seem to be trying for that, though. The main feeling it evinces is sadness, I guess, at the tormented killer, when really you should just be scared of him. He's hideous and fearsome, but not interesting enough for the movie to show its hand so soon.The plot concerns an infamous killer called the Haymarket Strangler who is hanged in Victorian London. Twenty years later, Boris Karloff plays an ageing writer and social reformer who is determined to prove that the man executed for the Haymarket crimes was innocent. Karloff unravels the mystery of the case and the killings begin again.Who could the killer be?If you think I'm hedging perilously close to a spoiler with this review, the people who made the movie would have disagreed. The revelation of who the killer is could have been used to great shock and suspense, but instead, it's thrown away carelessly early on. With it, sadly, goes all trace of suspense.

THE HAUNTED STRANGLER just misses the mark (of Greatness): while Karloff gives another fine performance, it's a tad too over-the-top for my tastes (at least when it comes to a performer of Karloff's caliber); one would've liked to have seen a more SUBTLE approach as he finds himself gradually getting caught up in the unshakable "grip" of The Strangler- and the "Jekyll and Hyde look" could've been toned WAY down. As pointed out elsewhere in these comments, Karloff's look is more akin to that of a mentally challenged man than a Monster. The production values are outstanding; it's only the handling of the material which could've been better.

The infamous serial killer "The Haymarket Strangler" may be long dead but writer James Rankin is convinced that the wrong man was hanged and sets out to investigate the crimes and the killer for himself. He makes progress into the case and it begins to appear that he is correct. However when he recovers the scalper supposedly used by the murderer he finds himself compelled to kill as his personality splits – with his normal, composed self becoming more and more desperate to prevent further deaths.This film has got so-so reviews and, always one to stick my nose in where not required, I'd like to agree with everyone who simply said "is OK" about it, because it is. Some have ripped into it and I think that is unfair because really the film delivers a basic B movie horror that didn't bore me even if it wasn't what I hoped it would be. For me the film falls down in its aspirations because it seems happy to be basic when it could have been more complex and engaging. The film takes too long to get to the point of finding the knife (and making the transformation happen) and up to this point, yes, it is a little dull. The bigger downside of this delay, though was that it mean the second half of the film (the potentially strongest half) is too short and rushed. So instead of a complex story where Rankin struggles with a demon from inside himself mostly it is just a straight "pull a face, get to killing" story.To make this work it does need to be urgent and scary but sadly it doesn't really deliver on that either, allowing the viewer to wander in their thoughts and think of what might have been. It is perfectly fine as a bit of Karloff b-movie and it does have some nice atmosphere and twists to the delivery but what with what "could" have been and all the weak material that does take up time in the first half, it only comes out as "OK". Karloff has his moments and I did think he was very good when Rankin was near-frantic as he understood what he was doing but mostly he just contorts his face and lurches forward in the time-honoured fashion. His supporting cast are OK but nobody really stuck in the mind – which I think speaks volumes.So an OK film but nothing special whatsoever. Meeting it on its own terms will help but it still isn't that good and one cannot help look at it and see several major ways that it could have been a lot better.

The worst! I can't believe I actually sat to the end of this 'penny-dreadful' Victorian 'chiller' which is nothing more than a shameless exploitation of Boris Karloff as a kind of Jekyll and Hyde figure, very late in his career. It starts promisingly as Karloff sets out to investigate the case of a man he believes was wrongly hanged for being the strangler of the title, (could this be a serious plea for the abolition of the death penalty, I asked myself?), but it soon degenerates into a Todd Slaughter-like piece of ham with Karloff going completely over the top. (No, Boris; screwing your face up and closing one eye doesn't make you scary). One to avoid at all costs.