Shadow of a Woman

Joseph Santley’s kooky Shadow of a Woman is so silly, nonsensical, and exaggerated that it’s impossible not to be entertained by it. Brooke Gifford (Andrea King) marries Dr. Eric Ryder (Helmut Dantine) after knowing him only a few days, and, not surprisingly, he turns out to be quite a weirdo. Ryder is a dangerous quack who practices some form of “alternative” medicine that seems to eschew surgery and medication for preventative measures like extreme dietary regulations and healing energies. He forces his restrictive diet on his sister and nephew, with whom he lives, and even on his little son Phillip for whose custody he’s currently fighting with his ex-wife. Brooke soon suspects that her husband has deadly intentions, and it doesn’t really matter if these intentions make sense, does it? Plot holes abound, but so do moments of wild weirdness, such as a malevolent boulder on a beach, a horrified fortune teller, a balcony’s near collapse, and an over-the-top bedroom fist fight.