The shadow of LES DIABOLIQUES (1954) and PSYCHO (1960) always loomed large over much of Hammer's output set in contemporary times; this is a moderately well-done example of that subgenre with the usual driving-an-heiress-mad plot here given a boost by the return of a long-lost brother and a would-be last minute revelation that all is not well with hard-living brother Simon Ashby (a perfectly cast Oliver Reed in a showy role). For some odd reason, I could have sworn that this film was directed by Michael Carreras, so much so that I did a double-take when Freddie Francis' name (whose first directorial job for Hammer this was) appeared on the screen; as it turned out, I was confusing this film with the similarly-titled MANIAC (1963) - unsurprisingly, another Hammer thriller in the same mould!
Review of Paranoiac
