CinemaSerf
12/2/2024
"Janet" (Jennie Linden) has been having some ghastly nightmares, so is sent home from her posh "Hatcher's School for Young Ladies" ostensibly to recuperate. We learn quite quickly that she has good reason for her troubles - only a few years earlier her mother had rather lost the plot and murdered her father. Now the young woman fears that perhaps she might be suffering from a similar mental illness - and sadly things really don't fare much better for her in her new surroundings. Freddie Francis has done quite a good job with Jimmy Sangster's story - he gives the film a Hammer look and feel to it, but in a far more sophisticated way. Much more of the mystery is psychological and presented to us with subtlety (and a decent score from Don Banks) - we are drawn into the story rather more. The fact that the acting talents here are consistent rather than stellar, gives the story more of a chance to shine. The script is quite well paced, too - all in all helping to deliver quite an intriguing mystery that does keep the pot boiling well for 80 minutes.
