Yes that's what I said this movie feels like a movie made 12 years before it was. Good and great movies always seem new and fresh poor ones always seem older and staler than they are.

The sound of the film Is thin with an even thinner occasional music score that sounds like someone forgot to turn the radio off in a room next door. The camera never moves and the actors rarely do either.

There is no mystery here for starters mostly talk. We know who the bad guys are all the time and what the keys are for and since none of it leads to any suspense set pieces....

There seems rarely any point to it and it's a very long short movie, if you know what I mean.

The few shootings and two fights are mostly done in a stagey fashion but would not be convincing on stage either. The one fight scene near the end is pretty good.

Actors Palmer and Banks don't have much to do the rest of the cast isn't terrible but aren't very memorable either. There is a lame sinister butler character, lamely executed. Banks doesn't get much screen time but the movie is at its best when he's on screen.

Yes there is a chamber of horrors but it has little to do with the story. It does lead to one pretty good scene with Banks being tortured--the best scene in the film thanks mostly to his acting.

Wallace movies can be loaded with outlandish jeopardy and suspense of horror elements--this one doesn't feel much like Wallace though as it lacks most of these elements. There is one locked room mystery scene but it's not followed up on.

Yes this is a low budget film which may forgive some of it's lack of flavor but the script is a talk fest and the direction dull and a film with a talky.

The film was released on blu ray, one assumes the best the film is ever going to look, and it looks flat and grainy with some sound drop outs and almost blown out whites.

Much of this may have more to do with crude post production to start with.

So what's left is you like actors Banks and Palmer and HAVE to see everything they are in you'll be satisfied to feel you've done your duty in sitting through this one, but you'll need some coffee or sugar to keep you going

So many early films of the "Old Dark House" variety are the kind where actors hit their marks, look at each other, and just talk, talk, talk endless pages of dialog and exposition. Not this one! The director knows how to tell the story with a camera, and the movie has a good shot count so there's none of those lock-down shots where two or more actors talk about the situation for an eternity. Quite the contrary: the movie has good pacing, and the actors keep a good rhythm to the delivery of their lines. Lilli Palmer is quite good and beguiling as the female lead, with good support from fellow players. The plot has enough twists to keep things interesting, while the lighting, camera moves, and blocking keep the visuals engaging. For a low budget thriller, it's really one of the better examples!