{"id":48911,"date":"2020-05-25T20:45:23","date_gmt":"2020-05-26T03:45:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=48911"},"modified":"2021-01-23T01:22:24","modified_gmt":"2021-01-23T08:22:24","slug":"paranoiac-1963","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=48911","title":{"rendered":"Paranoiac (1963)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;You cannot possibly have seen Tony; he&#8217;s dead.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Paranoiac-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Paranoiac-Poster-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-48914\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Paranoiac-Poster-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Paranoiac-Poster-85x128.jpg 85w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Paranoiac-Poster.jpg 665w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nWhen a mentally unstable woman (Janette Scott) believes her long-dead younger brother (Alexander Davion) has arrived back at their home, her older brother (Oliver Reed), guardian aunt (Sheila Burrell), and caretaker nurse (Lilian Brousse) remain skeptical about his identity. Meanwhile, Reed accuses his family&#8217;s accountants (Maurice Denham and John Bonney) of embezzling money from their inheritance.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Inheritance<\/li>\n<li>Mental Breakdown<\/li>\n<li>Mistaken or Hidden Identities<\/li>\n<li>Oliver Reed Films<\/li>\n<li>Orphans<\/li>\n<li>Psychological Horror<\/li>\n<li>Siblings<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Freddie_Francis\">Freddie Francis<\/a> turned out stunning cinematography for more than three dozen films, including the Peary-listed titles <em>Room At the Top<\/em> (1959), <em>Saturday Night and Sunday Morning<\/em> (1960), <em>Sons and Lovers<\/em> (1960), <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=4210\"><em>The Innocents<\/em> (1961)<\/a>,  <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=4675\"><em>The Elephant Man<\/em> (1980)<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=3705\"><em>The French Lieutenant&#8217;s Woman<\/em> (1981)<\/a>, and <em>Dune<\/em> (1984). Francis directed an equal number of films during his lengthy career &#8212; though sadly, none nearly as noteworthy. This Francis-directed Hammer Studios thriller, atmospherically shot by in-house DP Arthur Grant, is ultimately a missed opportunity. The storyline centers on greed, deception, and insanity &#8212; and given that most people on display are not-who-they-seem, we&#8217;re kept on our toes about who exactly is playing what mind games with whom; but too many of the characters are unlikable, and the conclusion is unsatisfying. This one is primarily worth a look for its visuals. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Atmospheric cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Paranoiac-Cinematography.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Paranoiac-Cinematography.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"304\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-48916\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Paranoiac-Cinematography.png 720w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Paranoiac-Cinematography-300x127.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Paranoiac-Cinematography-128x54.png 128w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Paranoiac-Cinematography2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Paranoiac-Cinematography2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"304\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-48917\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Paranoiac-Cinematography2.png 720w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Paranoiac-Cinematography2-300x127.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Paranoiac-Cinematography2-128x54.png 128w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Paranoiac-Cinematography3.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Paranoiac-Cinematography3.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"304\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-48915\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Paranoiac-Cinematography3.png 720w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Paranoiac-Cinematography3-300x127.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Paranoiac-Cinematography3-128x54.png 128w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo, though fans of psychological horror flicks may want to check it out once. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0057401\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thespinningimage.co.uk\/cultfilms\/displaycultfilm.asp?reviewid=1393&#038;aff=13\">Spinning Image Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s1727hamm.html\">DVD Savant Review (scroll down to 5th review)<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;You cannot possibly have seen Tony; he&#8217;s dead.&#8221; Synopsis: When a mentally unstable woman (Janette Scott) believes her long-dead younger brother (Alexander Davion) has arrived back at their home, her older brother (Oliver Reed), guardian aunt (Sheila Burrell), and caretaker nurse (Lilian Brousse) remain skeptical about his identity. Meanwhile, Reed accuses his family&#8217;s accountants (Maurice Denham and John Bonney) of embezzling money from their inheritance. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Inheritance Mental Breakdown Mistaken or Hidden Identities Oliver Reed Films&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=48911\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48911","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48911","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=48911"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48911\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65307,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48911\/revisions\/65307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=48911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=48911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=48911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}