Wayne Fletcher (Lon Chaney, Jr., "The Wolf Man") is an attorney in love with his hot young secretary Donna (Brenda Joyce, Jane in the "Tarzan" movies of the 1940s). This is despite the fact that he's still married. Then his wife is discovered dead, apparently smothered to death with a pillow. Donna's disapproving family, who make no secret of their hatred for Wayne, will find that the killings aren't going to necessarily end with the late Mrs. Fletcher. Who will be next? Is Wayne guilty, or is somebody attempting to frame him?
Fans of the Inner Sanctum series of psychological thrillers will have some fun figuring it all out, even if the script (by George Bricker) is overall on the routine side. It's given pretty straightforward, if not stylish, treatment by director Wallace Fox ("The Corpse Vanishes"). It does go far enough on its inclusion of trappings of the thriller and horror genres, such as the standard Old Dark House with its secret passageways and hidden rooms. Viewers will be kept on their toes with a variety of suspects, including a rather creepy guy, Bruce (Bernard Thomas, "Gunman's Code") and a psychic medium, Julian Julian (J. Edward Bromberg, "Son of Dracula"), who is portrayed as being possibly a big phoney. Rounding out the cast are Clara Blandick (Auntie Em in "The Wizard of Oz") as the snippy Belle, Rosalind Ivan ("Scarlet Street") as the paranoid maid Amelia, hilarious scene stealer George Cleveland ('Lassie') as the cranky Sam, and a rock-solid Wilton Graff ("Bloodlust!") as the investigating detective. Lon, the star of this series, delivers a typically engaging performance as Fletcher. An uncredited Victoria Horne does the voice for the late wife.
There is good atmosphere, all the way to the end, and if you're sharp enough, you can pick up on little things that get mentioned when all is explained at the big finish. If you've seen other entries in this series, you may miss what was before a standard opening sequence with a floating head in a crystal ball.
Six out of 10.
Fans of the Inner Sanctum series of psychological thrillers will have some fun figuring it all out, even if the script (by George Bricker) is overall on the routine side. It's given pretty straightforward, if not stylish, treatment by director Wallace Fox ("The Corpse Vanishes"). It does go far enough on its inclusion of trappings of the thriller and horror genres, such as the standard Old Dark House with its secret passageways and hidden rooms. Viewers will be kept on their toes with a variety of suspects, including a rather creepy guy, Bruce (Bernard Thomas, "Gunman's Code") and a psychic medium, Julian Julian (J. Edward Bromberg, "Son of Dracula"), who is portrayed as being possibly a big phoney. Rounding out the cast are Clara Blandick (Auntie Em in "The Wizard of Oz") as the snippy Belle, Rosalind Ivan ("Scarlet Street") as the paranoid maid Amelia, hilarious scene stealer George Cleveland ('Lassie') as the cranky Sam, and a rock-solid Wilton Graff ("Bloodlust!") as the investigating detective. Lon, the star of this series, delivers a typically engaging performance as Fletcher. An uncredited Victoria Horne does the voice for the late wife.
There is good atmosphere, all the way to the end, and if you're sharp enough, you can pick up on little things that get mentioned when all is explained at the big finish. If you've seen other entries in this series, you may miss what was before a standard opening sequence with a floating head in a crystal ball.
Six out of 10.