This good if not great Hammer production is efficiently entertaining, as it hits the ground running and offers up a provocative story of one forward-thinking person attempting to find an alternative way of dealing with mental illness. Some viewers may feel that the proliferation of elaborate, amusingly gory murders throw things asunder considering the more interesting aspects to the script (and Hammers' typically stylish period atmosphere). Also, one may grow impatient with the protagonists' stubbornness and sneakiness as he goes about doing everything possible to try to make his method work.
That protagonist is eminent Dr. John Pritchard (Eric Porter), a psychoanalyst who is an early follower of Dr. Sigmund Freud. Into his life comes the haunted young Anna (Angharad Rees), who as we see from the opening sequence is none other than the daughter of Jack the Ripper. As a child she'd witnessed her dad murder her mom. Now Anna would seem to be getting possessed by her dear old dads' spirit, and it's causing her to commit murder. Instead of turning her over to police, Pritchard keeps her in his custody and tries his hardest to understand her, believing that studying madness would be more effective than simply punishing the guilty.
The visual quality is gorgeous, the music, by Christopher Gunning, is lush and eloquent, and the direction by Peter Sasdy (also director of "Taste the Blood of Dracula" and "Countess Dracula") creates a reasonably quick moving tale (scripted by L.W. Davidson, based on a story by Edward Spencer Shew) with fine performances by all, including the lovely and endearing Ms. Rees, Keith Bell as Pritchards' son Michael, Jane Merrow as Michaels' fiancée Laura, the delicious Derek Godfrey as the sleazy Parliament member Dysart, Dora Bryan as Mrs. Golding, Marjorie Rhodes as Mrs. Bryant, and a fun Lynda Baron as flamboyant prostitute Long Liz.
Overall, a solid effort from Hammer that lovers of 70s horror cinema should find to be satisfactory.
Seven out of 10.
That protagonist is eminent Dr. John Pritchard (Eric Porter), a psychoanalyst who is an early follower of Dr. Sigmund Freud. Into his life comes the haunted young Anna (Angharad Rees), who as we see from the opening sequence is none other than the daughter of Jack the Ripper. As a child she'd witnessed her dad murder her mom. Now Anna would seem to be getting possessed by her dear old dads' spirit, and it's causing her to commit murder. Instead of turning her over to police, Pritchard keeps her in his custody and tries his hardest to understand her, believing that studying madness would be more effective than simply punishing the guilty.
The visual quality is gorgeous, the music, by Christopher Gunning, is lush and eloquent, and the direction by Peter Sasdy (also director of "Taste the Blood of Dracula" and "Countess Dracula") creates a reasonably quick moving tale (scripted by L.W. Davidson, based on a story by Edward Spencer Shew) with fine performances by all, including the lovely and endearing Ms. Rees, Keith Bell as Pritchards' son Michael, Jane Merrow as Michaels' fiancée Laura, the delicious Derek Godfrey as the sleazy Parliament member Dysart, Dora Bryan as Mrs. Golding, Marjorie Rhodes as Mrs. Bryant, and a fun Lynda Baron as flamboyant prostitute Long Liz.
Overall, a solid effort from Hammer that lovers of 70s horror cinema should find to be satisfactory.
Seven out of 10.