The fabulous BBC couldn't possibly start the new year 2006 better than by showing this little known but surprisingly gripping 50's chiller. "Grip of the Strangler" is excellent (but scandalously underrated) with one of Karloff's most impeccable performances and a gloomy Victorian atmosphere. The screenplay is a extra violent variation on the famous "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" story, with Boris as a respected novelist investigating a serial-killer case that took place 20 years earlier. According to his research, the person who got executed was actually innocent, and he intend to use the case to make a statement regarding the lousy defense poor people receive when they're on trial. He discovers a LOT more than he bargained for, however, and he as well as his family are about to meet the real Haymarket Strangler... This film contains a lot of tension, engaging plot-twists and some very grim moments. The opening sequence, for example, is extremely disturbing as it shows a public hanging where a crowd of socially low classed people are laughing hysterically (!). The make up effects on the mad-raving killer are genuinely scary and the filming locations really fit the obscure nature of the Victorian era. There are nasty cemeteries, dark police archives and above all the Judas Hole; a sleazy nightclub where there's little left to the imagination. Great shocker, definitely one of the best story-driven horror films since Val Lewton's finest productions of the early 40's. A must for all fans of classic horror!
