CheerupSilver Very Cool!!!

Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Rexanne It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

clanciai You never hated Bette Davis so much before. She could be criminal and nasty but never quite abominable, which somehow she is brought here to become more or less against her will by too many unexpected visitors to her house, beginning with her husband, whom you never see except as dead. It's a damned tricky plot, and Val Guest was expert at such things, making a criminal intrigue as inextricable as possible in order to have the great pleasure of having it all dissolve in the most unexpected possible but percetly logical way. The Gothic atmosphere of this chamber play is gloomily enhanced by the whole thing being filmed in Bette Davis' own home, here situated far away in the desolation of the Yorkshire moors. The music also underscores the tension of the plot, and the colloquial doctor (Emlyn Williams) who knows everything beforehand, which you dont get to know until after the end, doesn't make things easier for anyone. Only the young couple (Anthony Steel and Barbara Murray) get away unharmed, while the most upsetting case and victim of injustice of all is, as the doctor clearly points out, a horse. It's a major display of meanness and super-excellent as such, but in all these towering passions of possessive love you despondently miss and lack the faintest shade of any human varmth and tenderness.

Paul Evans That old saying 'they don't make 'um like this anymore' seems wonderfully applicable here, no distracting special effects or nonsense, this is all about story and delivery. Gary Merrill was a wonderful talent, I've seen plenty of his work, but here he is particularly good, in part because he spars throughout the film with Bette Davies. We all have our favourite Bette Davies film and performance, she is outstanding here, a striking woman, both in appearance and capability. She delivers her lines with meaning, reason and honesty, she is dark, believable, a true Femme Fatale.Barbara Murray and Anthony Steel make a wonderfully attractive young couple, they offer great support to the leading cast, as does Emlyn Williams (the interfering vet.)The film is loaded with intrigue, full of twists, and the plot itself is incredibly deep and intricate. You watch from start to finish not knowing which way it's going to go, and what the outcome will be. Crazy to realise it was made in 1951. The music on occasion seems at odds with the plot.A film of great quality.

Ripshin This film is quite an ordeal to sit through. Bette, and real-life husband Merrill, are totally miscast. The scenery chewing in this stage-to-screen British contraption must be seen to be believed. Some of the supporting cast fares well. but Davis is at her post-"All About Eve" worst. Soon afterward,she followed this low-budget "indie" with "The Star," another embarrassment(even though she was nominated for an Oscar for the latter!!).The plot is muddled. Characters do things for no particular reason. And, what's with that prying veterinarian neighbor?? His is one of the most annoying portrayals ever put on screen......after the first scene, you want the guy knocked off by Davis, preferably in a painful manner.This is worth seeing ONCE, if only to see how a top actress should NOT conduct her career.

sapblatt I am getting more and more into Bette Davis' style, which is on fine display in this feature where she plays a mystery writer who gets tangled up in her own sordid tale. Davis kills her own estranged husband and then gets set up by his criminal friend who thinks he can successfully hide under the guise of Bette's unknown husband. This poor character has no idea who or what he is up against when he takes on Bette. For that matter, her poor secretary has no idea either when Bette suddenly decides that she wants her fiance. While I found most of the supporting cast to be quite bland and annoying (the neighbor), the movie does a great job highlighting Bette's talents and is quite enjoyable to watch.