Tormented
Though poorly executed at times, this is a very cool ghost story. It centers around Tom Stewart, a jazz pianist who breaks up with his mistress, Vi, only days before his wedding to another woman. Vi falls off a lighthouse, and though Tom could save her, he decides not to. Her last words were something to the effect of "If I cant have you, nobody can!". Does she live up to her promise? Or is it all in Tom's guilt-ridden head? The acting and effects are above average for this kind of film, though they still arent all that great. Richard Carlson is great as the "Tormented" leading man, and Juli Reding does a good job as his dead lover, but the rest of the cast leaves something to be desired. The scenes when she apears all looked very good, much better than similar effects from that time. The rest of the effects, such as her disembodied head, looked pretty bad. As mentioned, the plot is the high point of the film. Tom grows more guilty and less sane by the minute, and Carlson handles it very well. Im sure audiences were surprised by the ending 40 some years ago when this was released, but todays audiences could see it coming a mile away. That isnt to say that it's not a cool ending, but very predictable. The score, partially stolen from the original House on Haunted Hill, works nicely throughout. Overall, I say check this out if you're into old-school haunting movies.
7.5/10