Plot
An American woman, Patricia Carroll (Powers), arrives in London to marry her lover Alan Glentower (Kaufmann). Before tying the knot, however, Patricia pays a visit to Mrs. Trefoile (Bankhead), the mother of her deceased fiancé Stephen, who died in an automobile accident several years earlier. Trefoile resides in a secluded house on the edge of an English village. She is fanatically religious, and it soon becomes apparent that she blames Patricia for her son's death. Indeed, when Patricia reveals to her that she never actually intended to marry Stephen, Trefoile enlists the aid of her servants, Harry (Vaughan) and Anna (Joyce), in holding Patricia captive so she can exorcise the young woman's soul. After several attempts to escape the Trefoile house, one of which nearly results in Patricia's being sexually assaulted by Harry, she is rescued by Alan; and in the end, Mrs. Trefoile winds up dead with a knife in her back, the same knife with which she earlier attempted to murder Patricia.Cast
Critical reception
''Variety (magazine), Variety'' wrote that the film "should click with fright fans," praising Narizzano's direction as "imaginative" and the script as having dialogue that was generally "fresher than most pix of its class" while giving Bankhead "numerous chances to display virtuosity, from sweet-tongued menace to maniacal blood-lust." ''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' declared: "Though uneven in tone (to put it mildly), this piece of extravagance is at least consistently enjoyable ... One suspects here a laudable determination in Miss Bankhead not to be outdone by Bette Davis' What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962 film), Baby Jane. Still, why cavil? There is enough here to give horror addicts a field day on various levels." A. H. Weiler of ''The New York Times'' wrote that although Bankhead "towers above the cast and story, her present effort adds little to her record." The film maintains a 44% rating on Review aggregator, review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes based on 9 reviews.See also
* ''Looped,'' a 2010 Broadway play that uses the production of this film as its setting * Psycho-biddy, Psycho-biddy genreReferences
External links
* * * 1965 films 1965 horror films 1960s horror thriller films British horror thriller films Films shot at Associated British Studios Films based on American novels Hammer Film Productions horror films Films directed by Silvio Narizzano Films with screenplays by Richard Matheson Psycho-biddy films 1960s English-language films 1960s British films {{1960s-UK-film-stub