FilmPsychological Gothic

Paranoiac1963

Name: Paranoiac
Genre: Psychological, Gothic
Released: 1963-01-07
Rating: 6.7

“Shocking! Horrifying! Macabre!”

Directed by Freddie Francis

6.7

Crypt Score

Blended from 2 sources

IMDb 6.7TMDB 6.6

✍ Review

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Year

1963

Runtime

80 min

Box Office

🏆 1 nomination total

The premise

Eleven years ago, the wealthy Ashby family was shattered when Mr and Mrs Ashby died in an airplane crash and their grieving son Tony committed suicide. All who remains is cruel Simon, an alcoholic in desperate need of funds; his mentally fragile sister Eleanor; and his protective aunt Harriet. Simon is just weeks away from receiving his inheritance, but there's a hitch in his plans when the long-believed dead Tony suddenly arrives.

Horror Vault's take

The Ashby family has spent eleven years trying to rebuild after devastating tragedy, but a shocking reappearance threatens to unravel the carefully laid plans of the household's most calculating member. Oliver Reed commands the screen as the scheming, dissolute Simon, whose grip on the family fortune is suddenly and dangerously challenged. This Hammer psychological thriller trades monster mayhem for drawing-room dread, wringing its suspense from deception, fractured minds, and old wounds that never fully healed.

Content: Suicide References, Depictions Of Alcoholism, Psychological Manipulation