Of the countless number of late night low budget horror movies that I saw on TV as a kid, none scared me more than TORMENTED did. It’s basically a B movie version of 1944’s THE UNINVITED with a little of A PLACE IN THE SUN thrown in for good measure. Jazz pianist (Richard Carlson) is getting ready to marry his wealthy fiance’ (Lugene Sanders) but ex-girlfriend (Marilyn Monroe lookalike Juli Reding) threatens to tell all. During an argument at the local lighthouse, she falls to her death when Carlson fails to help her. Now the wedding can proceed without a hitch, right? WRONG!
Reding comes back as a vengeful ghost who eventually gets her man but not before some serious haunting occurs that includes disembodied body parts and an interrupted wedding ceremony. It was the ceremony with its wilting flowers and windblown prayer book along with the final appearance of the ghost that really got me. At age 10 it gave me bad dreams (and a fear of blondes). Today I can enjoy it for what it is, a cheap but well made ghost story .
Director Bert I. Gordon (Mister B.I.G.) is best known for his bargain basement, special effects laden “extravaganzas” such as THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN and THE FOOD OF THE GODS but here, not having to make things large or backgrounds small, his effects are surprisingly “effective”. Up to this point I had always seen Richard Carlson as a good guy in movies like CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON and IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE. Seeing him play a murderer was a little unsettling. I was also fascinated with lighthouses and this was the first time I had seen a movie involving a haunted one which is why it made such an impression.
This new Warner Archive DVD of TORMRNTED uses a first generation print that looks better than it did on my TV all those years ago. Now I can have my cake and eat it too. Relive my childhood memories and yet sleep soundly at night. I’m also no longer afraid of blondes. Incidentally the Malibu beach house seen in the movie is the same one used at the end of KISS ME DEADLY. Both movies were shot by the great noir cameraman Ernest Laszlo.
The Capsule Critic 