The Woman Who Wouldn't Die (1965)
"Catacombs" (original title)

Director:

Gordon Hessler

Writers:

Jay Bennett (novel), Daniel Mainwaring

Stars:

Gary Merrill, Georgina Cookson, Jane Merrow

Cast

Cast overview:
Gary Merrill	...	Raymond Garth
Georgina Cookson	...	Ellen Garth
Jane Merrow	...	Alice Taylor
Neil McCallum	...	Richard 'Dick' Corbett
Rachel Thomas	...	Christine
Jack Train	...	Solicitor
Frederick Piper	...	Police Inspector Merkot

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

employer | husband wife relationship | blackmail | murder | based on novel

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Taglines:

"[The Woman Who Wouldn't Die]"... will live forever as a masterpiece of suspense!

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Genres:

Mystery | Thriller | Horror

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

1966 (UK)

Also Known As:

The Woman Who Wouldn't Die

Company Credits

Production Co:

John Parsons-Neil McCallum Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Did You Know?

Trivia

Directorial debut of Gordon Hessler.

User Reviews

Released in America as "The Woman Who Wouldn't Die"

"Catacombs"(1964)was the debut feature from Hitchcock disciple Gordon Hessler,shot in England like most of his subsequent films(in Nov.1963),and importing American actor Gary Merrill(a frequent guest star on the two Hitchcock teleseries)to assure distribution in the US,under a new title,"The Woman Who Wouldn't Die." Scriptwise,an extension of a typical Hitchcockian TV plot,as astute businesswoman Ellen Garth(Georgina Cookson)holds all the purse strings over her weak-willed husband Raymond(Merrill),to whom she is completely devoted.Despite a bad hip that requires the use of a cane,Ellen has a very active sexual relationship with her husband,who doesn't mind being dominated since she continuously dotes on him with her money.Problems arise when Ellen's young niece,Alice Taylor(Jane Merrow),arrives home from art school in Paris,showing a recently developed,somewhat unorthodox,attraction to her all-too-willing uncle,until the two are caught in a tender embrace by the girl's insightful aunt,who threatens to disown her faithless husband if he doesn't abide by her rules.When Ellen makes plans to spend a week alone in Italy,her unscrupulous attorney,Richard Corbett(Neil McCallum),who has a prison record and has been caught in the act of forging her name on his checks,conspires with Raymond to make sure she has an unfortunate "accident" due to her notoriously poor driving skills.Unfortunately,Raymond cannot resist the opportunity to drown his wife in her bathroom sink,burying the corpse behind their isolated country cottage,which has been left to him in her will,provided he spend the rest of his life there.Corbett carries out his part in the plot by hiring an actress to portray Ellen,seen leaving England by plane,then cold-bloodedly dispatching her on the continent.Raymond gets no time to relax however;he remembers that Ellen believed in life after death,and there are signs that she is not content to remain in her grave.Hessler works wonders with a routine script,and is aided by good performances from the tiny cast of seven players.Actor Neil McCallum,Irish accent intact,later played opposite Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee in 1964's "Dr. Terror's House of Horrors," and died in 1976,at the youthful age of 47."Catacombs" was completed in November 1963,co-produced by McCallum and Jack Parsons,whose next production in January 1964 would be the underrated "Witchcraft," importing another American star,in this case,Lon Chaney,who had never made a film in England.