Just so...so bad

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

1st watched 6/26/2014 -- 5 out of 10(Dir-Hugo Fregonese): Interesting but calculated mystery revolving around the British "Jack the Ripper" legend. This movie version of the story involves a mysterious pathologist played by a young Jack Palance who is setup early on as a possible suspect in the ripper's murders. This is not necessarily done thru the screenplay but rather by the way the movie is directed. From the first scene, the Ripper is the focus as two policeman escort home a drunk older lady only to see her murdered. Palance's character then arrives on the scene looking for a room with an attic to perform his experiments -- supposedly. Palance has the ability to be charming yet sometimes scary and menacing and shows his screen presence in this early film. Palance is not the problem with this movie -- the problem is that it sets his character up too early and rides him as a mysterious unknown with Frances Baviar(from Andy Griffith's TV show) as the landlord exclaiming her belief in his guilt early on. It's fun to see Aunt Bee before she became this TV show character, but other than this oddity the movie doesn't provide much mystery or allure. The cast is fine and there isn't any over-acting it's just not a good screenplay. I guess if you want to see these TV stars in earlier roles it's not a wasted viewing but other than that it doesn't offer much. It's kind of alarming that a man that actually did a lot of real killing to women in England has gotten so much attention and movie credo's but I guess that's just the way of our world....the movie doesn't help us understand anything different about this character and doesn't make for a worthwhile experience unfortunately.

"Man in the Attic" is a remake of Hitchcock's "The Lodger" (1927). This is not the only remake--there have been many more nor is it among the best. For my money, the best is Hitchcock's--even if it is a silent film. If you must see another, this 1953 version's as good as any.The story is set during the time of Jack the Ripper. A weirdo (Jack Palance) moves in to a home where they are renting rooms--and soon the lady of the house (Frances Bavier) begins to think he might be the Ripper. And, as the film progresses, you can see a lot of obvious clues--very obvious clues. My biggest problem is that there really is very little suspense in the film. The audience isn't misdirected and the film is too linear--too pat. In contrast, "The Lodger" keeps the viewer guessing throughout. Still, it is modestly entertaining--particularly if you can look past that few in the cast are British and that the ending seemed a bit abrupt and tough to believe.

Something about the Whitechapel killings during Queen Victoria's reign has always gripped the public's imagination. I think it a combination of the youth and beauty of Jack the Ripper's victims and that the case was never solved has contributed to our fascination. That it is unsolved has led some to speculate the Ripper was a prominent person, maybe even a member of the Royal Family as one theory has it.In Man In The Attic we have yet another speculative theory in the form of a historical novel by Belloc Lowndes. A rather well spoken, but shy man played by Jack Palance who is a research pathologist takes lodging at the home of Rhys Williams and Frances Bavier. Later on their daughter Constance Smith who is a well known actress returns from a tour of the continent and she moves back in with her parents. No suspense involved here, just the casting of Jack Palance who was up for a Supporting Actor award for playing the cold blooded killer Wilson in Shane tells you right away whom we suspect. Those of us in the audience that is. The future Aunt Bea of Mayberry is the first to suspect her boarder. She alerts Scotland Yard's Byron Palmer who starts to take a look at him.Palance's performance is calculated and controlled like Wilson in Shane, but this man is very different with different kinds of issues in his life. I could have seen him as Jack The Ripper.Man In The Attic will entertain and send your brain to thinking about Whitechapel. And there will be no end of books and films on Jack The Ripper.

Not a very unique nor special film in any way, and very typical early 1950s Hollywood fare with a back-lot version of London, and plenty of French can-can style dancing for titillation.Not boring either, and Jack Palance is fine as the mysterious lodger who may or may not be Jack the Ripper. But he's done better, and is not a good enough reason to pick up this film. In fact, the only particularly good reason to pick it up is if you wish to collect all varieties of Jack the Ripper films available, or if you want the double-feature Midnight Movie release of it because it also has the superior thriller, A Blueprint for Murder.