Review by I_John_Barrymore_I

I gave this a second shot after seeing - and disliking - it ten years previously, and it hasn't gone up in my estimation. I know it's a popular classic but it just doesn't work for me. It starts off well but it's not long before Olivier starts hamming it up outrageously, and his incessant shouting and gesticulating wears very thin very quickly. By the time he conducts a frantic search of the house (for reasons I won't go into) I'd had just about enough of his frankly terrible performance.

Michael Caine fares much, much better - watch his posh accent slip even before things get hairy - and gets the tone of every scene just right. What's also one of the film's few saving graces is that he doesn't downplay his performance to compensate for Olivier's screaming - he bravely stands his ground and plays it exactly as it should be.

I also won't go into the details of the film's central flaw - no, not the omnipresent gaping plot holes and unbelievable coincidences - but you'll know what I mean when you see it, and it'll kill the entire second act for you.

Admittedly it offers a few good moments and deliciously nasty surprises, but it looks like a TV movie or a late-era Carry On. . . film, goes on for far too long, and my interest had waned long before the ridiculous, logic-defying final moments.