There are some genuinely frightening visuals in this "movie of the week" where a seemingly rotting but still living woman calls for help from deep down in the dirt. Olivia de Havilland is a wealthy lady, recently released from a mental institution, happens to come across a dog digging, and upon further discovery happens to see the mud covered woman, and runs screaming into her mansion where her greedy son (Charles Robinson) and dipsomaniac wife (Laraine Stephens) don't seem to believe her.
Joseph Cotten as de Havilland's attorney and Walter Pidgeon as her doctor, become involved, revealing the truth and bringing on more shocks. Pretty decent for a "hag horror", and de Havilland gets to do a lot of running around and huffing and puffing, giving motivation for de Havilland's breathy line delivery. At times a bit over the top, at least here she's got a motivation for her melodramatic behavior. Ed Nelson also appears as a character seemingly unrelated to the main plot, second billed, but having less to do than Robinson, whose character is despicable from the moment he comes in. It's all cleverly tied together in an intelligent manner, with the twists and turns deeper than the poor unfortunate lady in the ground.
Joseph Cotten as de Havilland's attorney and Walter Pidgeon as her doctor, become involved, revealing the truth and bringing on more shocks. Pretty decent for a "hag horror", and de Havilland gets to do a lot of running around and huffing and puffing, giving motivation for de Havilland's breathy line delivery. At times a bit over the top, at least here she's got a motivation for her melodramatic behavior. Ed Nelson also appears as a character seemingly unrelated to the main plot, second billed, but having less to do than Robinson, whose character is despicable from the moment he comes in. It's all cleverly tied together in an intelligent manner, with the twists and turns deeper than the poor unfortunate lady in the ground.