The Haunted Strangler

The Haunted Strangler
The Haunted Strangler
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Robert Day
Written by	John Croydon (as "John C. Cooper"); Jan Read
Based on	an original story by Jan Read
Produced by	John Croydon; executive; Richard Gordon
Starring	Boris Karloff; Jean Kent; Elizabeth Allan; Anthony Dawson
Cinematography	Lionel Banes
Edited by	Peter Mayhew
Music by	Buxton Orr
Production; company	Amalgamated Productions
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (U.S.); Eros Films (U.K.)
Release date	June 3, 1958 (U.S.)
Running time	80 minutes
Language	English
Budget	£80,000
Box office	$650,000 (on double bill)

The Haunted Strangler (also known as Grip of the Strangler and originally titled The Judas Hole) is a 1958 British-American^[3] horror film directed by Robert Day. It was adapted from "Stranglehold", a story which screenwriter Jan Read had written specially for Boris Karloff, and was shot back to back with producer Richard Gordon's Fiend Without a Face, with both later being released as a double feature by MGM.^[4]

Plot[]

In Victorian era-London, Edward Styles is accused of being the notorious Haymarket Strangler, the brutal killer of five women. Twenty years after he is tried and executed for these crimes James Rankin (Karloff), a novelist and social reformer, launches an investigation to prove that Styles was innocent. His search for clues leads him first to the sleazy Judas Hole music hall, where the Strangler picked his victims from the resident can-can dancers and loose women, and then to the prison cemetery of Newgate where Styles was buried – in order to exhume his body. When the killings start again, Rankin's theory seems to be vindicated. However, his growing obsession with the case signals a most unwelcome revelation as to the true identity of the murderer.^[5]^[6]

Cast[]

Boris Karloff as James Rankin
Jean Kent as Cora Seth
Elizabeth Allan as Barbara Rankin
Anthony Dawson as Superintendent Burk
Vera Day as Pearl
Tim Turner as Dr. Kenneth McColl
Diane Aubrey as Lily Rankin
Max Brimmell as Newgate Prison Turnkey
Leslie Perrins as Newgate Prison Governor
Jessica Cairns as Asylum Maid
Dorothy Gordon as Hannah
Desmond Roberts as Dr. Johnson
Michael Atkinson as Edward Style
Peggy Anne Clifford as Kate

Production[]

The film was originally going to be called Stranglehold and was written by Jan Read, a friend of Boris Karloff's. He gave the script to producer Richard Gordon, who was looking to make a horror movie in the U.K. Gordon set up Amalgamated Productions with Charles Vetters and had started providing U.S. funding and talent for eight pictures shot in Britain.

Amalgamated went into partnership with British producer John Croydon and negotiated a deal with distributor Eros Films who agreed to guarantee 70% of the film's budget after delivery of the final product. The remaining 30% of the budget was provided by the National Film Finance Corporation.^[1]

The agreement with Eros was conditional on Amalgamated providing a second film, so Gordon arranged to make Fiend Without a Face back to back with a different cast and director. MGM picked up both films for release.^[1] Gordon later estimated the cost of the two movies together was approximately £80,000 exclusive of the costs of imported American stars.^[7]

Read's script was rewritten by John Croydon, who brought in the idea of making the killer a Jack the Ripper-style murderer and having the transformation be physical (in the original draft, Rankin was only possessed by the killer's spirit).^[1]

The film was shot in Walton Studios in Surrey.^[1] Karloff was paid $27,500 for four weeks, with an option to make a second film for Amalgamated.^[7]

Executive producer Richard Gordon and interviewer Tom Weaver talk about the making of The Haunted Strangler on the audio commentary of the Criterion DVD, available as part of the 2007 box set Monsters and Madmen.

Reception[]

According to MGM records, this film and Fiend Without a Face together earned $350,000 in the U.S. and Canada and $300,000 elsewhere, resulting in a profit to the studio of $160,000.^[2]

References[]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e John Hamilton, The British Independent Horror Film 1951–70, Hemlock Books 2013, p. 29-34
^ ^a ^b The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
^ Criterion Collection
^ Stephen Jacobs, Boris Karloff: More Than a Monster, Tomahawk Press 2011, p. 410-412
^ TCM.com
^ The Criterion Channel
^ ^a ^b Tom Weaver, The Horror Hits of Richard Gordon, Bear Manor Media 2011, p. 26-40

External links[]

The Haunted Strangler at IMDb
The Haunted Strangler at AllMovie
The Haunted Strangler at Rotten Tomatoes
The Haunted Strangler at the TCM Movie Database
In Praise of Karloff the Uncanny an essay by Maitland McDonagh at the Criterion Collection

[x_cert-1] John Hamilton, The British Independent Horror Film 1951–70, Hemlock Books 2013, p. 29-34

[Mannix-2] The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.

[3] Criterion Collection

[karloff-4] Stephen Jacobs, Boris Karloff: More Than a Monster, Tomahawk Press 2011, p. 410-412

[5] TCM.com

[6] The Criterion Channel

[tom-7] Tom Weaver, The Horror Hits of Richard Gordon, Bear Manor Media 2011, p. 26-40

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