kinsayder

Two sisters live in a lonely mansion by the sea. One of them (Marina Vlady) is confined to a wheelchair. One of them, unknown to the other, goes out at night to entertain random strangers in the front seat of their convertible. But which one?

The question acquires a fresh urgency when the latest "victim" (Robert Hossein) shows up on their doorstep. The sisters look so similar he can't decide which one he encountered the previous night. Neither seems the type. The sisters invite him to stay and an awkward ménage à trois develops - awkward because the unanswered question remains: which of the two is lying about her nocturnal excursions?

This is the premise, and it's a thin one, but Hossein (who also directs) does a great job with the material, keeping the suspense going till the final scene. The direction is sleek and stylish, Vlady (Hossein's wife at the time) is jaw droppingly gorgeous, and there's a nifty jazz score by André Hossein. Put your disbelief on hold and enjoy.

Another B movie, another mad scientist tampering in God's domain. This one gets hold of the recently executed body of a vicious killer named Butcher Benton (Lon Chaney Jr) and brings him back from the dead. The resurrection process also makes Benton indestructible - but I guess you have to expect that kind of thing when you're tampering in God's domain.

Benton has a score to settle with the thugs who helped put him on Death Row, so he sets off to get revenge and to collect a cache of stolen loot hidden in the LA sewers. Meanwhile a detective is closing in, helped by Benton's former girlfriend.

Aside from some dull romantic interludes between the cop and the girlfriend, the film moves along at a decent pace, helped by some good location work around LA and an effective, even sympathetic, performance from Chaney. As in his best known role as The Wolf Man, you get a real sense of the pain that his transformation has caused him.

Oddly, the film could probably have worked as well or even better without the sci-fi elements. If Benton had simply escaped from prison - without being resurrected, without being made indestructible - the core plot of a desperate man hunting down the rats who double-crossed him would still be there, and would locate the movie firmly in film noir country.