This is a rare film unlike all others in its very carefully studied psychology, made almost like a documentary, but at the same time it is a thriller which constantly grows more exciting and has a dramatic climax for a finale with the unexpected reappearance of the bird problem, which is what finally gets the better of the intelligent and expertly manipulative Anne Baxter in one of her most typical and horrible roles, and she is too good at it. Ralph Bellamy as a perfectly frank and honest artist, always speaking his mind freely and acting spontaneously, is her counterpart, falling for her tricks to begin with but always realizing his mistakes. The one film that this reminds of is Hitchcock's "Shadow of a Doubt" of the same year, also an intricate study in the mechanisms of a manipulative mind too clever for his own kin. The one scene that sticks the strongest to my mind is when Evelyn Heath (Anne Baxter) opens the window to let in the storm and at the same time spy the departure of Ann Proctor with vicious triumph. It's a great film, it can't be denied, a chamber and family domestic drama, but in curiously extremely romantic stage settings by the sea in Maine enhanced by the expertly suggestive music, adding depth to every scene of dramatic impact. The most shocking scenes are always with the girl, how Anne Baxter infernally starts using her for her schemes and then stops at nothing. It is actually a horror thriller of high psychological documentary value, with a warning for all times, to beware and never recognize a psychopath too late.