The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

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

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

Based on the plot description on the DVD case, I was preparing for the Hammer movie "Paranoiac" to more or less be a rip-off of the classic suspense thriller "Gaslight". Indeed, the first ten to fifteen minutes of the movie seem to be heading in that direction. Then there is a sudden introduction of a new character that turns everything around. It really came as a surprise, and I wondered if the movie could sustain the sudden momentum that had come across. It does for the most part. True, at the very end of the movie, there are some minor plot threads that come across as unfinished, as well as some unanswered questions. But the movie manages to hold your interest right to the end, which I think says something. It's also fun to see a youngish Oliver Reed play a slimy figure who is up to no good from start to finish. While the movie isn't a classic thriller, it all the same grabs your attention and has no dull spots. It's a Hammer production that doesn't deserve its present near-forgotten status.

Writer Jimmy Sangster, the man behind Hammer films such as Dracula and The Curse of Frankenstein, also penned this gem. Sangster, sadly, departed our presence last month, but his legacy of films lives on.Fans of Oliver Reed, Proximo in The Gladiator, will enjoy this early look at his talent. He was brilliant as he changed from his normal obnoxious self to a psychotic.Little sister Eleanor (Janette Scott) keeps seeing her dead brother Tony (Alexander Davion). Is she mad, or is he an impostor?I came across this film while watching 100 Years of Horror: Maniacs. It is a good film for Hammer Horror lovers, and those who like classic horror. It won't do much for those who are into modern horror.Terrific ending.

An impostor claiming to be Tony(Alexander Davion), a young man who had been recorded as having thrown himself over a cliff many years ago, shakes the already fragile foundation of a family riddled with psychological turmoil. Aunt Harriet(Sheila Burrell)has been trying to keep what's left of the Ashby family together despite obvious problems stemming from the loss of parents and Tony, a young 15 year old deemed as so depressed he committed suicide from sadness. Simon Ashby has spent practically his entire inheritance on booze and a fancy sports car & wants sister Eleanor's(Janette Scott)share of wealth as well. Since Tony's demise, Eleanor, who was very close to him, has been battling mental health issues. Simon has been yearning for her to completely slip off the deep end so he can gain her inheritance if the poor girl was locked away in an asylum. Meanwhile, Harriet tries to keep Simon from ruining himself on liquor among other things. As this man claiming to be Tony shows up into the picture, Simon really begins to teeter on the brink and we watch as he plans to murder his brother..and Eleanor..when his alternatives in gaining extra cash seem skittish at best.Hammer tries their hand at a psychological family tragedy where deception and attempts at murder weigh heavy in the story. Acting is the key ingredient..that and a little twist concerning Tony. Tony's ghost haunts this film throughout as every character, including the impostor, can not shake his looming shadow overhead. Something's got to give as Simon is so sociopathic and greedy..yet, there's something in this story, regarding Tony, that has him even wound tighter. The film has another interesting aspect that plays out as it continues..the impostor is falling in love with Eleanor, and it's easy to see why because Janette Scott imbues her with so many wonderful traits such as her innocence, gentleness & warmth..and, it doesn't hurt that she's quite striking on the eyes.Oliver Reed is so intense as Simon, someone clearly with a few screws that have loosened over the years, he's a force-of-nature. He IS the movie as the alcoholic basketcase willing to do whatever it takes to seize on an inheritance others stand in his way of receiving.But, the film is ultimately about, to me anyway, the inability to escape your guilt regarding past acts and undiscovered secrets that suffocate you. The avarice of greed is also a heavy theme as Simon would do anything to gain that extra bit to supply his alcohol habit which will drown away iniquities of the past.

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!