Tormented (1960)

A man lets a former flame fall to her death rather than let her interfere with his new relationship, but her ghost returns to disrupt his impending nuptials.

Director:

Bert I. Gordon

Writers:

Bert I. Gordon (story), George Worthing Yates (screenplay)

Stars:

Richard Carlson, Susan Gordon, Lugene Sanders

Cast

Cast overview:
Richard Carlson	...	Tom Stewart
Susan Gordon	...	Sandy Hubbard
Lugene Sanders	...	Meg Hubbard
Juli Reding	...	Vi Mason
Joe Turkel	...	Nick, The Blackmailer
Lillian Adams	...	Mrs. Ellis
Gene Roth	...	Mr. Nelson, lunch stand operator
Vera Marshe	...	Mrs. Hubbard (as Vera Marsh)
Harry Fleer	...	Frank Hubbard
Merritt Stone	...	Clergyman
George Stanley
Dick Walsh
Leslie Thomas

Storyline

On an island community off of California, Tom Stewart is preparing to marry the woman he loves. His plans are threatened by his old girlfriend, Vi, who shows up secretly. During a confrontation at the top of the island's lighthouse, the railing breaks and Vi falls. Tom has a chance to save her but doesn't. Tom's relief at Vi's accident soon fades when her vengeful spirit begins showing up wherever he goes...

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Plot Keywords:

island | lighthouse | ghost | dead woman carried | piano | 

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Taglines:

Tormented by the She-Ghost of Haunted Island!

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 September 1960 (USA)

Also Known As:

Eye of the Dead

Filming Locations:

Malibu, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cheviot Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

75 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

A portion of the score actually came from William Castle's House on Haunted Hill which Allied Artists had distributed the previous year.

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Goofs

At the wedding, Sandy is holding her bouquet in both hands in close ups, but in the long shots, she is holding it with her left hand and her right arm is hanging by her side.

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Quotes

Vi Mason: Tom Stewart killed me!

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Connections

Referenced in Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Rebel Set (1992)

User Reviews

Slick, underrated and misinterpreted B.I.G movie

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.