Woman Who Came Back

Lorna Webster (Nancy Kelly) is a young woman returning by bus to her home town of Eben Rock. Just outside of town, the driver swerves to avoid hitting an old woman and her dog. The woman boards the bus and sits next to Lorna, claiming she is a 300 year old witch and knows the Webster family history. Lorna, who has descended from a judge notorious for burning innocent women at the cross hundreds of years ago, understandably freaks out. The bus goes over a cliff and Lorna is the only survivor. She goes back to the empty house she inherited, and gets back in touch with the lover she walked out on two years ago. The townspeople don't take well to Lorna's presence, as she is a woman who both left and returned under mysterious circumstances. Strange things start to happen to around her, and Lorna convinces herself that she has been possessed by the spirit of the woman who sat next to her on the bus. Before long, others in town start to believe she is a witch and mass hysteria ensues.

I had never heard of this movie until I watched "The Bad Seed" last month. I was impressed with Kelly's performance as the tortured mother of the fiendish child. I decided to check to see if she did any other work in the genre and stumbled across this interesting film. Her performance is just as strong and believable as the confused and tormented Lorna Webster.

The film is rather eerie and beautifully filmed. There are creepy scenes with excellent lighting and shadow play, where Lorna is alone in her family's dark mansion, thinking about her ancestors' history, haunted by nighttime sounds and shadows. The dog that belonged to the woman on the bus seems to follow her wherever she goes and has a very ominous presence. Is Lorna going crazy, or is she really possessed by a witch? While the movie tries to straddle this line between psychological and supernatural, and is effective part of the time, it works best as a statement about mass panic and judgment. The townsfolk know that Lorna is descendant from a judge who condemned innocent women as witches, yet are quickly thrust into the 17th century themselves as soon as Lorna shows that she's a little off-kilter. The movie works on another level, as Lorna is a small-town woman in the 40s who asserts her independence by leaving her home and her lover without explanation. She is secretly reviled by everyone upon her return for these reasons, as well as being the only survivor of the bus accident, which is probably why they are so quick to jump to conclusions about her presence.

The film is rather short and the ending is sort of a groaner that in that it is wrapped up too easily and makes some of the earlier scenes seem questionable. But overall, this is a good, eerie film with a strong lead performance.

THE WOMAN WHO CAME BACK is a 1940s-era spook fest with much in line with the Val Lewton horrors of the era. It's a low-key, atmospheric production about a woman who arrives at a small town in Massachusetts and is the only survivor of a bus crash (shades of UNBREAKABLE). Once she settles down in the town, the superstitious locals begin to suspect that she's possessed by the spirit of a vengeful witch.

It's fair to say that not much really happens in this movie, and nor does it need to. THE WOMAN WHO CAME BACK is a short, thinly-plotted story that's more about building a sense of mood and place than anything else. It's quite expressionistic in style, with lots of shadowy scenes and spooky, half-explained moments. The cast are certainly adroit and the only thing that really lets it down is the ending, but until that point? Lewton himself would be proud.

Nancy Kelly stars as Lorna Webster, an attractive woman who returns to her home town of Eben Rock, Massachusetts. She is riding on a bus when an old cackling woman boards it, the vehicle crashes over a cliff (cheap effect) and into a lake, Lorna is the sole survivor. She is a descendant of a 17th Century witch finder and believes that she has become possessed by the spirit of a witch, burnt at the stake 300 years ago. This old supernatural horror movie was produced by poverty row studio Republic Pictures but do not be put off by this, I found it to be a reasonably enjoyable 68 minutes. It starts off at Halloween, we see children dressed up in delightful costumes. The movie does pack in several spooky scenes, my favourite being a very atmospheric night time thunderstorm. There are some day for night shots but hey, Hammer were infamous for doing this. The acting quality is generally good although I was not very impressed with Lorna's fiance (Jon Loder). Several reviewers deride the ending, it did perhaps feel a little rushed however I was satisfied with it. I have been watching horror movies for some 45 years now, until very recently I had not come across this one so I'd like to thank Talking Pictures TV for screening it, I would certainly watch it again in the future.

Extremely atmospheric at times... eerie, dark and suspenseful. I loved all the film minus the ending. Eerie Halloween costumes, creepy dolls, a very protective - almost evil - German Shepard, strange happenings in the town of Eden Rock, Massachusetts, dead roses, a scary old lady, a witch in town - yea this film has everything needed for a great horror film if they would have kept it that way in the ending.

I really liked Rev. Jim Stevens he's a really good character and his church sermon was scene was great - if you have seen this film you know the scene I'm speaking of - really outstanding.

The dead roses scene at the beginning of the film would have been good IF John Loder, who plays Dr. Matt Adams, would have acted shocked about the fresh roses being dead when he gave them to Nancy Kelly (who plays Lorna Webster). He almost ruined that scene with his wooden performance - at least Nancy Kelly continued with grace.

I would have rated this film 9/10 if it wasn't for the ending - the film is great but I was disappointed with the ending.

7/10

The Woman Who Came Back is one of the many low budget horror movies made in the 1940's. Of the ones I've seen, this is one of the best.

After surviving a bus crash, a young woman comes back to her home town of Eben Rock and thinks she is a 300 year old witch and blames herself for a series of strange happenings in the town which include the bus crash and making a little girl become ill.

This movie is rather creepy at times and includes a thunderstorm and some good photography.

The cast includes Nancy Kelly (Tarzan's Desert Mystery, Bad Seed) as the "Witch", Otto Kruger (The Colossus of New York) and John Loder (Now, Voyager).

The Woman Who Came Back is a must for old horror fans. See it if you get the chance.

Rating: 3 and a half stars out of 5.