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Thursday, September 3, 2020

Castle Sinister (1948)

Starring Mara Russell-Tavernan, Robert Essex, Karl Meir, James Liggat, John Gauntley
Directed by Oscar Burn
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A War Office agent is sent to investigate strange disappearances at a Scottish castle where a cloaked villain has been sighted.

A passable wartime programmer, the picture doesn't take full advantage of showcasing its creepy skull-faced phantom, but benefits from an atmosphere music score, and sustaining the mystery of its villain's identity for most of the film.  A bit too much time is spent at the start of the picture with an interview with a local tavern owner, establishing the plot and the characters in flashback sequences, but things pick up speed and the intrigue develops a bit better once we move on from that.  I wasn't familiar with any actors in the cast, but thought they gave capable performances, working from a script adapted from a play by Vance Youden.  The photography by Jeff Davies features a few too darkly lit nighttime scenes, but otherwise is utilized well enough to remove any staginess from the play.  So all in all, I think this was acceptably done for what it was, but could have used more quality touches.    

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