What a beautiful movie!

Just so...so bad

Disturbing yet enthralling

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

***SPOILERS*** Listless and dull remake of the 1945 spine tingling psychological thriller of the same name "The Spiral Staircase" with the gorgeous, no matter how much she tries to look Plain Jane, Jackie Bissett as Helen Mallory in her first and only non speaking role despite getting top billing in the movie.When she experienced both her 10 year old daughter and husband killed in a fire five years ago Helen went into shock and ended up losing her voice. With Dr.Rawley, John Ronane, trying to restore Helen's voice he sends her to the prestigious Sherman's Institute for more advanced treatment. As things turn out there's this psycho running around town who's obsessed with culling out those of us in society not worthy or perfect enough to live! This in order for him to create the perfect human, which he feels he is, race by eliminating all its imperfections! This mentally deranged lunatic has had his eye out for Helen in feeling that she's a threat, by being mute, to the advanced evolutionary process of the human race! This nut-case has already murdered five other "inperfect" young women and is now targeting Helen to be his next victim!As you would imagine the psycho finds his way into the Sherman's Institute in his attempt to murder Helen but, luckily for her, a number of complications arise that makes his job a bit more difficult. One of them is the head of the institute Dr. Joe Sherman, Christopher Plummer, being involved in a three way love affair with his brother Steven, john Philip Law, over the sexy Blanche, Gayle Hunnicutt. This psycho for some weird and insane reason, despite Blanche being about as perfect as any women can be, also feels that Blancheis a drag and burden on he human race, in the air she breaths and food and water that she consumes, in her not being quite perfect enough to be kept alive! There's also Dr. Sherman's diabetic and dying mother Mrs. Sherman, Mildred Dunnock, who this murderous psycho, as a sidelight, also plans to murder. Not that Mrs. Sherman is in his way but because she's, like both Helen & Blanche, not worth living!***SPOILERS*** Wherever suspense there is in the film is left for last with the killer psycho finally revealing himself, to the total non surprise of those of us watching, and going after a trapped and terrified Helen. The psycho killer who had so many opportunities to murder Helen all throughout the film yet, in him being the "Perfect Human" that he thinks that he is, ended up blowing every one of them. Not much of a surprise ending like the 1945 version of the movie was it still had enough terror and suspense in it to lift "Spiral Staircase II" a notch or two above the dull as dishwater like script that proceeded it.

I had first watched the 2000 TV remake of THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE and when I looked it up on IMDb I noticed that there were earlier films with the same title and plot.And so I first watched the original and fell in love with it... and then I moved on to this little gem from the 70's. I must say I really liked it A LOT! Jaqueline Bisset is stunning and the acting here is great. This is true 70's trash so bad its good film. I actually like this one over the original. The only performance I don't care for is the mother's here...in the original Ethel Barrymore played it so well! But still, this is good entertainment! Great way to pass the time!

As a child, the 1946 version of this movie was one of the most terrifying I had ever seen...and I loved scary movies. Years later, it still scared the hell out of me. This re-make is a travesty. I don't know what the director and cinematographer were trying to achieve, but it wasn't The Spiral Staircase. Apologies to Christopher Plummer, Mildred Dunnock and Elaine Stritch for having to endure this drivel. Times must have been bad then and paychecks much needed. If you want to see a brilliant horror film, see the original.

The plot summary currently available for this movie is totally incorrect. The viewer has gotten the original film (starring Dorothy McGwire and Ethel Barrymore) mixed up with the television movie starring Jacqueline Bisset and Christopher Plummer. In the remake, Ms. Bisset plays a woman who has become mute because of the trauma of watching her child die in a fire and her husband die trying to rescue the girl--he falls off a ladder and lands on the spokes of the wrought iron fence! She is romantically involved with the doctor who has been treating her. The bad guy in this version is played by Christopher Plummer, who portrays Ms. Bisset's uncle in the film (sorry, can't remember character names). He, not the doctor, as stated in the current viewer summary, is the killer. His father couldn't stand to see physical imperfection or illness and, evidently passed his fetish on to his son--who has added to it the element of psycopathy, leading him to commit numerous murders in his effort to rid the world of imperfect people. Pretty stupid, really, as much as I like Christopher Plummer. I hate to see fine actors lower themselves to appear in productions unworthy of their talents. The original was not quite so far-fetched and much better acted by Dorothy McGwire in the role of the mute.