The Man Who Haunted Himself

Rating:
Summary: Moore please!
Review: If anyone had any doubts that Roger Moore could act, they were dispelled by this movie. The film was virtually ignored when it was first released, which now seems like a giant missed opportunity. The former Saint and future 007 is just brilliant in the role of a businessman on the verge of a major nervous breakdown. It is hugely refreshing to see him stop all the "man of action" nonsense and play a different kind of role. The other nice thing about the movie is that it is full of ensemble British actors doing what they do best -- acting bloody well! The script is well written and Basil Dearden's direction keeps the suspense brimming nicely. I remember this being shown on TV (the Monday night film on BBC1, a highlight of the week)in 1972 or so, just after Moore had finished with The Persuaders! and before he'd made Live and Let Die. It was a refreshing slice of entertainment and it has not lost its flavour -- if anything age has improved it. It's just a shame old Roger didn't do more work like this, but perhaps that makes it even more a thing to treasure. The DVD is worth the money for the commentry alone. My one criticism is about the R1 encoding. Why didn't the distributors negotiate for a Region 0 release? Currently this film is not available anywhere else but the US -- a nonsense as it is a piece of English film-making that now resides in a French-owned company's vaults! This movie should be accessible to fans wherever they live. The sooner the Region Encoding system is seen as the money-making Hollywood sham it is and is thoroughly discredited the better. That way some of the world's more precious artefacts, such as this film, will be more available to all.

Rating:
Summary: All time cult classic.
Review: This film deserves to be rated alongside the "PRISONER" for cult status, it has everything, fine acting (yes the real Roger Moore let loose), cool cars (did they have to crash the Rover?) and the life of a man on the edge. You won't really know what its all about untill the very end, and I won't spoil it for you, but you will not be disappointed. This is British Cinema at it's finest, and one in the eye for any Roger Moore critics. Watch for a brilliant cameo from Freddie Jones doing what comes natrually to him, (playing an eccentric, this time a shrink!). Who is the evil Doppelganger, and "Daddy who is that man, why does he look like you?". Buy It Now!

Rating:
Summary: All time cult classic.
Review: This film deserves to be rated alongside the "PRISONER" for cult status, it has everything, fine acting (yes the real Roger Moore let loose), cool cars (did they have to crash the Rover?) and the life of a man on the edge. You won't really know what its all about untill the very end, and I won't spoil it for you, but you will not be disappointed. This is British Cinema at it's finest, and one in the eye for any Roger Moore critics. Watch for a brilliant cameo from Freddie Jones doing what comes natrually to him, (playing an eccentric, this time a shrink!). Who is the evil Doppelganger, and "Daddy who is that man, why does he look like you?". Buy It Now!

Rating:
Summary: Mildly entertaining
Review: This is a movie based on an episode of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" called 'The Strange Case Of Mr. Pelham'. The Hitchcock version is better, by far. The movie expands the story by an extra forty minutes or so with unnecessary and boring details, but the premise is still the same. If you haven't seen the Hitchcock version, then you'll probably be mildly entertained by the movie, which isn't bad at all but doesn't compare well to the other.

On the positive side, the acting in this film is uniformly good, and Moore turns in a good performance as Pelham, really giving it his all. The British locations are well filmed, and the movie has a comfortable late-sixties style aura. However, it's often slow-moving and a bit boring at times. The Hitchcock TV version presented everything you needed to know in about 50 minutes and was a fine story as filmed; quite chilling in fact. But the movie stretches minor, unimportant details out to film length. The ending of the film is different and somewhat metaphysical, which is good, but unfortunately it's way too literal and even unintentionally humorous, which is bad. So, the original version has it beaten on all counts. When you attempt to remake Hitchcock, you'd better be sure your script is superb if you want success, but this one is just average.

One nice thing about the DVD is Roger Moore's film-length audio commentary. Somehow, they lured him out of retirement to make his comments and remembrances about making the film, and he has some interesting things to say. Odd that he didn't know (either then or now) that this was originally a "Hitchcock Presents" story! He had no idea, and was surprised to hear that. Ironically, one of his lines in the film mentions James Bond, and in fact that was to be his very next role.