I saw this movie when I was a kid with my very own 9-1/2inch black and white set. The kind before remotes were commonplace and I would position it at the foot of my bed watching all the great old movies on TV before cable came along and old movies became a thing of the past except for stations like AMC...Anyway, when I was a kid I was VERY impressed with this film. It seemed very atmospheric and even foreboding..Who was the killer? How could they all handle being in that house with a killer loose? I've been counting this film as one of those long lost awesome films for years now....
Well, finally after years of missing this Rene Clair classic, I watched it again and I must admit, I was a bit disappointed. The set up is all very mechanical as was the action. Get the group assembled. Announce that they're all nasty folk because....then go about killing em off one by one, and very quickly I might add. Not much suspense really and not terribly effective acting or writing either. The one thing the movie does have is a definite sense of period. It smacks of 1940s. Which really is half the fun. Fun to look at the clothes, the furniture, the hairstyles and it is also fun to see a flick that isn't constantly being played on AMC!! Did I enjoy the flick for old times sake? You bet I did! And there really aren't that many flicks in the same kind of genre from that time period, so for that reason it's certainly a stand out.
Well, finally after years of missing this Rene Clair classic, I watched it again and I must admit, I was a bit disappointed. The set up is all very mechanical as was the action. Get the group assembled. Announce that they're all nasty folk because....then go about killing em off one by one, and very quickly I might add. Not much suspense really and not terribly effective acting or writing either. The one thing the movie does have is a definite sense of period. It smacks of 1940s. Which really is half the fun. Fun to look at the clothes, the furniture, the hairstyles and it is also fun to see a flick that isn't constantly being played on AMC!! Did I enjoy the flick for old times sake? You bet I did! And there really aren't that many flicks in the same kind of genre from that time period, so for that reason it's certainly a stand out.