Paranoiac

Of the series of psychological thrillers Hammer Films produced during the early 60’s, Freddie Francis directed two of the most entertaining, both of which qualify as Gothic noir. Like his Nightmare the following year, Paranoiac offers over-the-top thrills in a creepy English mansion teeming with psychological ghosts. Oliver Reed appears to have a blast playing Simon Ashby, a cruel, alcoholic borderline personality trying to have his sister Eleanor (Janette Scott) committed to an asylum so he can inherit the entirety of their parents’ fortune. Both Simon and Janette have lived in the family mansion with their aunt Harriet (Sheila Burrell) since their parents died in a car accident; a third sibling, Tony (Alexander Davion), killed himself at 15 by leaping into the sea, or did he? The film’s demented variation on the sibling rivalry theme is distinctly macabre and quite a bit of fun: corpses are found in walls, suicides are attempted, psychotic breakdowns occur, secret affairs are revealed, and creepy masked figures stand guard while the eldest brother sings soprano at the piano in the middle of the night.