Paranoiac (1963 film)

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Paranoiac

Directed by	Freddie Francis
Produced by	Anthony Hinds
Written by	Jimmy Sangster
Starring	Janette Scott Oliver Reed Sheila Burrell Alexander Davion
Music by	Elisabeth Lutyens
Cinematography	Arthur Grant
Editing by	James Needs
Distributed by	Hammer Films
Release date(s)	May 15, 1963 January 26, 1964
Running time	100 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
IMDb profile

Paranoiac is a 1963 suspense film from Hammer Films directed by Freddie Francis and starring Janette Scott, Oliver Reed, Sheila Burrell, and Alexander Davion.

[edit] Plot

Simon Ashby (Reed) is trying to drive his sister, Eleanor (Scott) insane, so that he can inherit the estate of their deceased parents. But when a mysterious man (Davion) appears, claiming to be their long-lost brother Tony, Simon's plans are thwarted. Simon vows to get revenge on the man and take care of his sister in the process.

Eight years earlier, when Tony was a youth, he had left a suicide note and had apparently jumped off a seacoast cliff, but his body had never been recovered. Eleanor wants to believe that the man is Tony. Simon expresses the opinion that the supposed brother is an impostor, and tries to pursuade his sister likewise.

In fact, Simon knows the man is an impostor, because he had actually tricked Tony into writing the suicide note, and then murdered him. Filled with remorse over his crime, he had then hidden the body behind a brick wall in a small house on the estate. From time to time, Simon would act out a scene in which he would pretend his brother was still alive. He would play a phonograph record of Tony singing, while Simon would play the organ, in the company of his doting Aunt (Burrell), who would dress in grotesque makeup and play the part of the dead brother. The impostor stealthily observes this ritual through a window, but is spotted by the Aunt out of the corner of her eye.

Eleanor finds she is falling in love with her supposed brother. Overcome with conflict over her seemingly incestuous thoughts, she is about to commit suicide, when the man restrains her and confesses that he is not her brother Tony, but instead is a con man hired by the embezzling family attorney, John Kossett (Denham).

The fake Tony is eventually captured, tied up, and forced to observe Simon's ritual up close, with the now-uncovered body of the real Tony "watching" from a chair. At that point Simon also fills in the missing plot details about having killed Tony. A fire breaks out just as help arrives. Eleanor unties the fake Tony, and sees the real Tony's body briefly, before she and the impostor escape. The psychotic Simon perishes in the fire, clutching his brother's remains.