Paranoiac (1963)

Director:

Freddie Francis

Writer:

Jimmy Sangster (screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

15 May 1963 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Shocking! Horrifying! Macabre!

Plot:

Simon Ashby is a wealthy psychotic who is is coddled by his aunt in their palatial mansion outside of London...

Plot Keywords:

Aunt | Impostor | Suicide Attempt | Inheritance | Clown Mask

Cast

Janette Scott	...	Eleanor Ashby
Oliver Reed	...	Simon Ashby
Sheila Burrell	...	Aunt Harriet
Maurice Denham	...	John Kossett
Alexander Davion	...	Tony Ashby
Liliane Brousse	...	Françoise
Harold Lang	...	RAF Type
Arnold Diamond
John Bonney	...	Keith Kossett
John Stuart	...	Williams
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Sydney Bromley	...	Tramp (uncredited)
Laurie Leigh	...	Woman #1 (uncredited)
Marianne Stone	...	Woman #2 (uncredited)
Colin Tapley	...	Vicar (uncredited)
Jack Taylor	...	Sailor (uncredited)

Directed by
Freddie Francis

Writing credits
Jimmy Sangster		(screenplay)
Josephine Tey		uncredited (novel "Brat Farrar")

Produced by
Anthony Hinds	....	producer
Basil Keys	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Elisabeth Lutyens

Cinematography by
Arthur Grant

Production Design by
Bernard Robinson

Art Direction by
Don Mingaye

Makeup Department
Roy Ashton	....	makeup artist
Frieda Steiger	....	hair stylist
Richard Mills	....	assistant makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
John Draper	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Ray Corbett	....	third assistant director
Hugh Harlow	....	second assistant director
Ross MacKenzie	....	assistant director

Art Department
Arthur Banks	....	construction manager
Tom Money	....	property master
Kenneth Ryan	....	assistant art director

Sound Department
Jim Groom	....	sound editor (as James Groom)
Ken Nightingall	....	boom operator
Ken Rawkins	....	sound recordist
Alan Thorne	....	sound camera operator

Special Effects by
Les Bowie	....	special effects
Kit West	....	special effects (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Albert Cowlard	....	camera grip
Moray Grant	....	camera operator
Robin Higginson	....	focus puller
David Osborne	....	focus puller

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Molly Arbuthnot	....	wardrobe supervisor
Rosemary Burrows	....	wardrobe mistress

Editorial Department
James Needs	....	supervising editor

Music Department
John Hollingsworth	....	music supervisor

Other crew
Pauline Harlow	....	continuity (as Pauline Wise)
Maureen White	....	production secretary

Production Companies

• Hammer Film Productions

Distributors

• Universal Pictures (1963) (USA) (theatrical)
• J. Arthur Rank Film Distributors (1963) (UK) (theatrical)
• Koch Media (2008) (Germany) (DVD)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (199?) (USA) (VHS)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (199?) (USA) (laserdisc)
• Universal Home Entertainment (2005) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Universal International Pictures (UI)  us releasing agent

Also Known As:

Runtime:

Canada:80 min | USA:80 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:X | France:-12 | UK:12 (DVD rating)

Filming Locations:

Isle of Purbeck, Dorset, England, UK

Company:

Hammer Film Productions

Trivia:

Another version of Josephine Tey's novel "Brat Farrar" had appeared on Hammer's schedule as far back as 1952.

Quotes:

Simon Ashby:[stumbles through the door inebriated]
Aunt Harriet:Where have you been?
Simon Ashby:[smirk on his face] I've been drinking.
[Looks at the liquor on the bar in the entryway]
Simon Ashby:Now I need to drink some more.

Movie Connections:

Featured in 100 Years of Horror: Maniacs (1996) (V)

A dandy little suspense film

The film is about a dysfunctional English family who make the folks on the Jerry Springer show seem very normal in comparison! It seems that many years earlier, two rich parents were killed in a traffic accident--leaving their three children to be raised by a nutty aunt. However, only a few years later, one of the sons apparently kills himself--leaving a flaky and emotionally fragile daughter and a son who is a spoiled little monster. This spoiled monster is played by Oliver Reed and he looked like he was having fun with this vivid role--drinking, being emotionally unstable and being an all-around jerk! The sister, never the poster child for sound mental health, begins insisting that she's seen and heard the other brother--even though he is dead. When he actually turns up alive some time later, you are left wondering if this really is the dead brother or if it's a con man. Due to this return, however, Reed begins acting much more unstable and kooky--as this reappearance has apparently pushed him over the edge of sanity.

How all this is resolved will keep you guessing and the film is a lot of fun even though it isn't exactly subtle. And, when the mysteries are all unraveled, you probably will like the the nice twists and turns. In many ways, the movie seems inspired by films such as PSYCHO and PARANOIAC in turn seems to be, at least in part, the inspiration for future films like STRAIGHT-JACKET--all shrill but exciting suspense films.