I've recently seen "Strange Illusion". It's a film that I had been wanting to see for a while. Considering it came from the low-budget studio PRC, I didn't know if it would be one of their better, mediocre or worst films. It's not one of their worst, but it just about reaches the PRC level of mediocrity. It seemed like it had an interesting plot. Jimmy Lydon plays a young man who is convinced that his mother's new beau is a killer. He's enlists the aid of a doctor friend to help him solve the mystery which surrounds the household. Jimmy Lydon has had a memorable career as "Henry Aldrich" in the popular 1940's series. He was seen in many other films and in the classic "Life With Father". However, he is served with a somewhat juvenile script here and, at one point in the film, is given a few lines of 1940's teenage vernacular to speak! It is very strange to see him suddenly break away from his normal way of speaking and start using this vernacular on his girlfriend. He says things like "Hello, vixen. What's mixin'?" and "Are ya missin' my kissin'?"! Strange, indeed! I wonder what PRC was thinking! Warren William is good, as usual, portraying the mother's sinister new beau. It's unfortunate that a little more thought about plot, suspense and dialog didn't go into this film. It could have been a much better film. For it's brief length, it seems overlong and much too uneventful. I would suggest seeing this film only if you must, but you can certainly find much better low-budget thrillers out there!
Review of Strange Illusion
