Glimmerubro It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

SanEat A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

Bluebell Alcock Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

Married Baby Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

mark.waltz I suppose if I began a tradition of watching this once a year, I might find myself quoting some of the dime store novel sounding lines that a cast of newcomers and veterans get to spout. To their credit, they do it with a straight face, and many of them went on to other works right away, so it comes to reason that this didn't drive them to drink after it was all over. This is an exploitation murder melodrama with a future Oscar winning actress, a blonde bombshell Monroe rip-off and a declining 40's B queen. Then, there's one of the many screen Tarzan's, all together for the story of a character that you only see briefly as a corpse and find out that everybody had some reason to kill her, as well as several other murders that occur in very much the same grizzly way.Having been around with no real success on film, Anne Bancroft is the female star, not the murdered first victim, with Lex Barker as the dead girl's much abused ex who falls for the sweet Bancroft, filled with secrets of her own. Marie Windsor seems uncomfortable trying to retain her glamour, and although still striking, is overly made up which makes her age all the more obvious. Mamie Van Doren is the typical dumb bleached blonde, lacking the charisma of Marilyn, Jayne and even England's Diana Dors. Typical drug store crime magazine setups make this look oh so cheap, and the dialog is atrocious. There's a native American character who hates women and explodes on them while drunk. I felt sorry for this simple minded character and wanted further development on him rather than the stereotypical "drunken Indian" stigma. John Dehner is the law enforcer on the case, while Ron Randell plays another key figure. The ending comes out kg total left field. A strange mix to be sure.

dzizwheel Lex Barker, Marie Windsor, Anne Bancroft, Mamie Van Doren, score by Les Baxter,Stuart Whitman in a tiny role, directed by Howard Koch.Filmed like a Perry Mason episode, the movie is interesting but has no real tension, drama and a flaccid climax. And talk, lots and lots of talk. It will be the destruction of pictures, I tell ya. It's still fun to watch, though. Eye candy for any persuasion: Lex Barker in swim trunks and Mamie Van Doren in skin tight dresses. Anne Bancroft early in her career. Given her later work and stature it would have seemed a long shot if this picture was any predictor. Marie Windsor is always a treat, but largely wasted in this as her wheelchair bound brother's caregiver.Easy to guess the perpetrator in this one, but still fun to watch.Goof: Lex Barker takes off in a 56 Chrysler which turns into a 55 Chrysler during the same trip, then back again into a 56 Chrysler as he pulls up to his location.

Michael_Elliott The Girl in Black Stockings (1957) ** (out of 4)Bizarre thriller set in a Utah resort where the body of a woman is found brutally sliced up. David Hewson (Lex Barker) was supposed to have gone out with the woman but instead went with someone else (Anne Bancroft) and soon he's looking into who did the brutal murder. It's important to note that THE GIRL IN BLACK STOCKINGS came out three years before PSYCHO or PEEPING TOM and while this film here isn't nearly as good as those two, it's worth saying that this one here beat them in regards to murder and mental illness. It also beat those two masterpieces by showing and discussing some graphic murder scenes first. This film here is too uneven and at times too poorly done to be considered "good" but I think fans of the genre are going to find enough interesting things here to make it worth viewing. I'm not going to ruin the ending but I will say that the final fifteen-minutes are extremely well done and manage to be quite creepy as well. I really liked how the film played itself out and once you see who is responsible and why the murders were done, well, it's very nicely handled. Barker, best known for his stint as Tarzan, does a pretty good job here as he's at least interesting enough to help the viewer go through the entire film. He manages to carry the film without a problem but Bancroft also deserves a lot of credit as she too is extremely good. Ron Randell is also good in his role as a paralyzed man and Marie Windsor, a noir vet, is good as his sister. Cult favorite Mamie Van Doren also briefly appears. Barker not only acted in the film but he also did the music score, which is quite effective. The problem with the film is that some of the supporting performances aren't all that memorable and there are times where the direction is a bit sloppy. Some of the dialogue could have been better written as well. Still, this film manages to set itself apart from a lot of other mysteries from this period and the good things here make it worth sitting through at least once.

dougdoepke A lot of talent is wasted in this turgid misfire. At this point in his career, director Howard W. Koch had proved himself an efficient overseer of crime dramas-- Big House USA; Shield for Murder et al. Here however his usual expert pacing dissolves into a number of static, uninvolving scenes with way too much dialogue for a slasher film. Then too, note the lack of reaction when suspect Frankie backs into a log-cutting machine. The sheriff (John Dehner) and his deputy merely stand there expressionless, with no help from the director, after observing what is presumably a very gory accident. My guess is that Koch took one look at the script and decided to walk through the rest.In fact, the real problem is the script, which is about as confusing as a whodunit gets. Note the five-minute explanation Dehner has to deliver in order to tie-up loose ends in the movie's last scene. Not only is his solution as complicated as a problem in higher math, but I suspect the audience has long since lost interest, anyway. Not helping either is Ron Randell's teeth-clenching attempt to play the role of a mordantly depressed cripple. But then, who could bring off all that goofy sarcasm that the script sticks in his mouth.The real crime is not using such ace performers as Marie Windsor and Anne Bancroft to better effect, especially Windsor whose role could have been filled by a dozen lesser actresses. Note also how sexpot Mamie Van Doren's one big high-cleavage scene is highlighted. No doubt that one showed up on all the promotion posters during the age of the busty blonde. Also wasted is the spectacularly scenic landscape around Kanab, Utah, where the movie was filmed. Instead, the action only leaves the nondescript resort grounds once, to go to the lumber mill. In fact the whole production seems a curious affair-- almost like a bunch of Hollywood types suddenly found themselves at the same Southwestern resort and decided to shoot a movie, typing up the script each night after a heavy cocktail hour. Anyhow, whatever the backstory, the resulting film amounts to a plodding and talky misfire that likely never got closer than the farthest drive-in from town.