Strangler of the Swamp

"Strangler of the Swamp" is a very strange little picture from PRC, one of the so-called Poverty Row studios of the '40s; the same studio responsible for such wonders as "The Devil Bat" (1941) and "The Devil Bat's Daughter" (1946). This last film starred Miss America 1941, Rosemary La Planche, in the same year that she appeared in "Strangler." Here, she plays Maria, the granddaughter of a ferry boat operator in one of the most dismal-looking swamps you could ever imagine. Having felt lonely while working in the big city, what could be more natural than her taking over her grandpappy's job when he is killed by the eponymous swamp strangler, the pale-faced spirit of a wrongfully hanged man, eerily played by Charles "Ming the Merciless" Middleton? Whilst pulling this tow-rope swamp barge through its courses, Maria meets hunky Chris Sanders, played by Blake Edwards (yes, THAT Blake Edwards, almost a full decade before he was to begin his glorious career as a director). Anyway, cheaply made and studio bound as "Strangler" is, I suppose the picture does have atmosphere to spare. Shot mostly on darkened sets and with prodigious amounts of swirling ground mist and bullfrog croakings, the film does evoke a creepy bayou feel, and its brief running time (the whole thing barely clocks in under an hour) allows for zero padding. This is basically a minor little "B" picture, to be sure, that does what it sets out to do: tell a weird ghost story with absolutely no frills. The film is hardly ever scary, although there are several shots of Middleton's blank-faced mug that are fairly riveting. La Planche herself is very appealing, strange as her character may be (honestly, who would ever lay down in a pile of grass and swamp muck at night to take a nap?!?), and Edwards fine as the surprisingly UNheroic leading man. The DVD that I just watched features a battered-looking print with no extras, but I suppose we may never see this oddball curiosity look any better. Fans of '40s "B" horror may find the picture sufficiently rewarding to warrant a look; others, I feel, may find it a fairly hard pull.

It's really a pity more people haven't seen this little number from PRC - it has a tight story, good acting, amazing atmosphere, just everything so many of their features lack. The joke was, and in some cases remains, that PRC stood for Pretty Rank Crap (actually Producers Releasing Corporation). They kept Bela Lugosi from going hungry and delivered quite a list of entertainingly awful crud - I mean, they made Monogram look like MGM! Generally considered the studio where name actors went to pick up enough cash to pay off their bar tabs (which explains the presence of otherwise outstanding actors like J. Carroll Naish, John Carradine and George Zucco), by the law of averages, they were bound to hit the mark, once in a great while.

And here, they do. Despite, or perhaps because of the obvious sound-stage set, the film has an atmosphere of unreality, a similar effect attained in "City of the Dead" (1960) by the same means. Both films have an almost Lovecraftian sense of foreboding. The core of the film's success can be attributed to the "Strangler" himself, character actor Charles Middleton, perhaps most known for his turns as Ming the Merciless in the "Flash Gordon" serials and his menace of Laurel & Hardy in several of their shorts and features.

Please understand - "Strangler from the Swamp" is never going to give Hitchcock or the Val Lewton horror pictures a run for their money, but all in all, it is still a very satisfying film.

And yes, that Blake Edwards is THAT Blake Edwards!

An innocent man had vowed revenge on the lynch mob who strung him up and two generations of men have been dying along the bayou in mysterious ways ever since. The latest is the village ferryman whose granddaughter takes over his scow and falls for a young man whose father was also involved in the tragedy. Legend has it that the curse can be lifted if a descendant offers their life to the spectre and when it comes for the girl's beau, well...

German director Frank Wisbar re-worked his Reich film FAHRMANN MARIA for PRC and, like fellow émigré Edgar G. Ulmer, he knew how to make an atmospheric film on a shoestring budget. Set almost entirely in a fog- enshrouded swamp of gnarled trees and murky waters, the tale visually resembles it's predecessor but the theme has changed from a "love and death" fable to revenge from beyond the grave. In the original, Death itself had come to take Maria's lover but in the re-make, it's a vengeful ghost. Even so, both gals bargain for the life of their man.

B-movie bad guy Charles Middleton ("Ming The Merciless") was the vengeful cadaver in the mist and Maria was played by "Miss America 1941" Rosemary La Planche. Although Maria was the real hero, future producer/director Blake Edwards, of all people, played "the hero" and he wasn't a bad-looking guy. As far as Poverty Row chills go, STRANGLER is a cut above the rest thanks to an imaginative director.

Strangler of the Swamp was made by low budget studio PRC and is certainly one of their best movies I've seen.

A man who was hanged for a murder he didn't commit returns as a ghost for revenge on the people who accused him. He uses a rope to strangle his victims and after several deaths, including the old man who operates the ferry across the swamp, he disappears. The old man's granddaughter takes over the ferry herself and also falls in love with one of the local men and they decide to get married.

This movie has plenty of foggy atmospheres, which makes it very creepy too.

The cast includes Rosemary La Planche, Blake Edwards and Charles Middleton (Flash Gordon) as the Strangler.

Strangler of the Swamp is a must for old horror fans like myself. Excellent.

Rating: 3 and a half stars out of 5.

No, it's not PRC's finest hour (and even though it's listed at 59 minutes, I swear it's closer to 50)--that honour has to go to Edgar Ulmer's Detour. Strangler of the Swamp is a neat little cheapie, though, and it's atmosphere is unlike that of any other Hollywood film, with the exception of Night of the Hunter. Perhaps Charles Laughton caught this at the bottom of the bill one night and tucked his memories away for a decade. It certainly strikes me as being more or a fable than a true horror story, and what little I've read of Frank Wisbar's earlier Ferryboat Maria seems to bear out that interpretation. The film is rife with illogic, starting with the idea that a ferry is needed across a swamp that seems to span no more than a few yards. Villagers try to run away in order to escape the curse of the Strangler, and instead of leaving via the ferry they take a donkey cart on a road that otherwise doesn't figure into the story! Leading lady Rosemary La Planche sleepwalks through her role as the granddaughter of the cursed ferryman, and Blake Edwards is reasonably likeable as the heartthrob whose love heals all wounds. All things considered--not least it's brevity and dreamlike atmosphere--Strangler of the Swamp is essential viewing for anyone interested in second features, Poverty Row cinema, or the influence of German filmmakers on American cinema.