UK, 1962
86m
35mm, MegaScope, black and white, 2.35:1
mono, English
A British psychological horror film directed Michael Carreras. It was the second of Hammer Film Productions' series of psychological horror films made in the wake of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960).
Plot Summary
In the south of France, a vengeful Georges Beynat murders the rapist of his daughter with a blowtorch. Four years later, American artist Geoffrey Farrell is drawn into a web of intrigue by Eve Beynat who, with her lover Henri, plans to frame him for the murder of her now deranged husband.
Credits
Crew
Directed by: Michael Carreras
© MCMLXII [1962] Hammer Film Productions Ltd
Columbia Pictures Corporation presents a Hammer Film production
Produced by: Jimmy Sangster
Production Manager: Bill Hill
Written by: Jimmy Sangster
Assistant Director: Ross MacKenzie
Continuity: Kay Rawlings
Director of Photography: Wilkie Cooper
Camera Operator: Harry Gillam
Supervising Editor: James Needs
Editor: Tom Simpson
Music Composed and Conducted by: Stanley Black
Sound Recordist: Cyril Swern
Sound Editor: Roy Baker
Westrex Recording System
Wardrobe Supervisor: Molly Arbuthnot
Make Up Artist: Basil Newall
Hair Stylist: Pat McDermot
Titles by: Chambers & Partners
Art Director: Edward Carrick
Assistant to Producer: Ian Lewis
Made at Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios, Borehamwood, England
Cast
Kerwin Mathews (Paul Farrell)
Nadia Gray (Eve Beynat)
Donald Houston (Henri)
Liliane Brousse (Annette Beynat)
George Pastell (Inpsector Etienne)
Arnold Diamond (Janiello)
Norman Bird (Salon)
Justine Lord (Grace)
Jerold Wells (Giles)
Leon Peers [Blanchard – uncredited]
Alternative Titles
Il maniaco – Italian title
Murhaaja noidankehässä – Finnish title
References
Periodicals
The Daily Cinema no.8738 (18 March 1963) p.11 – review
The Film Daily vol.123 no.79 (23 October 1963) p.7 – review
The Hollywood Reporter vol.177 no.32 (23 October 1963) p.3 – credits, review
The House That Hammer Built no.4 (August 1997) pp.179-185 – illustrated article (Maniac)
Kine Weekly no.2894 (21 March 1963) p.22 – review
Monthly Film Bulletin vol.30 no.352 (May 1963) p.67 – credits, synopsis, review
Motion Picture Herald vol.230 no.12 (13 November 1963) p.930 – credits, review
Variety 23 October 1963 – credits, review
Books
English Gothic by Jonathan Rigby pp.88, 89, 122 – illustrated notes, review
The Hammer Story by Marcus Hearn and Alan Barnes p.62 – illustrated article (by Marcus Hearn and Alan Barnes)
Other sources
British National Film Catalogue vol.1 (1963) – credits
