Woman Who Came Back

"Woman Who Came Back" is an okay film made by one of the best 'poverty row' studios, Republic. It's a little better than average for one of their films but the ending just left me very cold and unsatisfied.

The film begins with a weird old lady and her dog stopping a bus. The lady climbs aboard and begins regaling a young lady (Nancy Kelly) with stories about how she is the spirit of a centuries-old witch! Soon, the bus plunges over an embankment and everyone aboard, aside from the young lady, is killed. Soon, strange thing happen around town (such as the dog appearing to the lady and refusing to leave her side) and slowly the idiots in the town and the lady begin to wonder if she is the reincarnation of the witch who was burned so long ago.

So far, the film is a bit silly but well done and entertaining. But the studio insisted on explaining away everything at the end--so much so that I felt it undermined the story. Still, it was mildly enjoyable and I always like seeing Otto Kruger in any film. Not great but a decent time-passer.

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

After a two-year absence Lorna Webster (Nancy Kelly) is returning to her hometown. Beside her on the bus is a crone looking woman, Jezebel Trister (Elspeth Dudgeon,) who is also traveling to the town to get revenge on the descendent of the Webster that burned her as a witch 300 years ago. The bus veers off the road in crashes into the lake. Only Lorna survives and the body of the old lady is not found.

Was there an old lady? Or was it an imaginary figment? This and other strange coincidences are convincing Lorna that she is being possessed with whtchyness and the town is going along with her.?

Will she and her little dog too, dispatch the town's people one by one or will they have the courage to do unto her first?

As a psychological thriller, some may want to compare this film to Val Lewton. I think more in the line of She-Wolf of London (1946) with June Lockhart.

Nancy Kelly (Lorna) returns to her small town after a 2 year absence. She is on the bus into town when cackling hag Elspeth Dudgeon (Jezebel) gets on and sits next to her. This old lady seems to know Nancy and claims to be 300 years old. The next thing that happens is the bus crashes into a lake and there are no survivors. Except Nancy. What is eerier is that there is no body of the old woman, she has just disappeared and no-one believes Nancy that she even ever existed. Well, she did exist. And Nancy seems to now possess some kind of evil spirit and be in tune with the darker forces of nature. There is a reason as foretold by a curse that tells of the revenge of an innocent woman burnt at the stake after being accused of a witch - she will return after a 300 year period and take over the body of a young woman to exact revenge. Uh-oh, guess who Nancy has just had an encounter with…..

This film has great potential and a good beginning but just sort of meanders until a real let-down of an ending that doesn't make sense. Shame. And why is John Loder (Matt) topping the bill in this film? It's Nancy Kelly's film – she's even in the goddam title, folks! There are some nice touches and spooky sequences but the film lacks that "kerpow!" factor, especially with the let-down of an ending. Could have been a strong, spooky witch film. As it is, it's OK as something different to watch.

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.