Tormented

That Bert I. Gordon made some wacky flicks!

This film definitely has a dark, somber mood and rightly so. Is it really happening too Tom or is guilty conscience and insanity taking over? Despite the hindering of special effects at the time, the apparition scenes are pretty funny. Sandy really did grow up a lot during this movie. Was it a message of how the best laid plans end up crumbling like dust in the wind? Hey, can you blame Tom for falling for Vi? Oh, was there unintended humor when Tom asks the blind housekeeper if she saw something, and when she reminds him of her handicap, he says, "Sorry, I forgot.?" I always crack up at that one scene and anytime the beatnik shows up.

"No habla beatnik!"

The first thing to notice is the photography of Ernest Laszlo, a veteran of film noir who shot the classic "D.O.A.", "Kiss Me Deadly" and Fritz Lang's "While the City Sleeps." (And the same year "Tormented" came out, he did "Inherit the Wind"!) He elevates this little ghost tale no end, with nice compositions such as the shots through broken lighthouse windows.

Classical ghost stories usually don't have very far to go, and that's probably why there aren't too many of them in American cinema. Someone's haunted, that's it. Such tales are atmosphere-heavy instead of plot-heavy, since motive and outcome are usually obvious. In this case, the atmosphere is a combination of spookiness (with some clumsy effects, and some smooth ones, like the pan shot across the room to reveal the missing LP which has somehow moved to the record player) and the neurotic paranoia of the hero, who reveals himself as trapped a sap as many a noir fool who blames his troubles on a dame. The plot delays and prolongs, but the last act juggles several nice twists. By the end, this cynical little flick has shown more style and imagination than several recent special-effects ghost movies.

I saw this movie a few weeks ago for the first time. I don't expected much, but after watching this, I was very surprised. It's one of those old films which are quiet good and not boring.

OK it is not a Blockbuster but it is very moody for a B-Movie. Even the Special Effects are okay for a film from the early 60's. The actors are quiet good, especially Juli Reding (Vi Mason), she is great. I think she imparts a bit of gallows humor (characteristic with her big breasts) to this Film :-)

The only deficit in this picture is the little Girl Sandy, she is very annoying. But generally speaking it is a nice movie for boring evenings.

Bert I. Gordon - cleverly shortened as B.I.G - is a notorious director/producer/writer whose films are too often automatically categorized as 'awful' and textbook material for spoof-shows as MST3K. Even 'Tormented' featured in the legendary show and I, for one, think this was really unjustified. Underneath all the cheapness and inferior production values of this project homes a modestly grim and slick thriller. The plot handles about a successful piano player (Tom) who lives on a remote island community. He's all set to wed a rich high society girl but first he has to get rid of his Marilyn Monroe-like mistress Vi. Things seem to turn out fine when she falls off the lighthouse but Vi comes back to haunt Tom; body part by body part. This thriller with obvious Freudian influences is quite atmospheric and features interesting sub-plots and a few genuine frights. It only suffers from too many scenes in which the protagonist (Richard Carlson) wanders around the beach talking to himself. It's not a bad film at all and most people probably just refer to it as a turkey because Gordon directed it. Whether his films feature giant fake mutated animals (Empire of the Ants, Food of the Gods) or not, they all get labeled the same way. Cinema is a hypocrite industry, my friends. It's up to you to give this 'Tormented' a look and realize it should be rated slightly higher.

Tom Stewart (Richard Carlson) is about to marry sweet Meg Hubbard (Legene Sanders). So, a week before the wedding he decides to break it off with big-breasted girlfriend Vi (Juli Reding). A WEEK BEFORE the wedding??!!!??? Hey, why so soon Tom? Why not do it on your honeymoon? She threatens to blackmail him with love letters. She tells him this while they're on top of a deserted lighthouse on a remote island. Great timing Vi. She falls to her death--Tom could have saved her, but doesn't. Next thing you know her ghost is tormenting him--parts of her body appear to him (but no one else), he hears her voice, sees her in pictures and begins going crazy. But is she really come back from the dead or is he out of his mind?

Silly, but I enjoyed it. I was never really bored and the story throws every ghost story cliché at you with blaring music and amusing special effects. There were even a few very creepy moments in there and Richard Carlson gives an excellent performance.

Even the crappy video transfer I saw didn't hurt--it was also 5 minutes shorter than it's reported running time and there were obvious bits missing and scratches all throughout the print. Purportedly, Something Weird Video said this was a new transfer. Oh really? I find that hard to believe.

Still, it's a cheesy, fun, little horror film. Take it for what it is--don't go in expecting some classic.