omendata
This is one of the films from the 1970's that personifies the era and remains in my mind and always has as a most memorable film that transports me back to what i view were better days where going to the cinema was a real treat and movies didn't rely on special effects, foul language , sex and extreme violence to make a story that the viewer could sink into and leave reality behind and come out of the cinema feeling that you had been taken away from ordinary life to another place and time.It also goes to prove that Roger Moore CAN act as his performance is solid and believable.It brings back so many memories its quite a travel back in time to better times where violence, sex , nudity and cgi were not prevalent to such a degree as they are now and the story and plot were more important.One of the best movies from the 1970's and in my top movies of all time!
Jackson Booth-Millard
I was devastated to see the Breaking News about the death of the James Bond 007 star and national treasure Sir Roger Moore, at the age of 89, after a short battle with cancer, even more so because I had met him at a book signing, and seen him onstage, so the day of his death I paid tribute and watched this film. Basically Harold Pelham (Sir Roger Moore) is an uptight city worker, one day whilst driving his Rover P5B he suddenly becomes possessed, driving at high speed until he crashes. Pelham is taken immediately to hospital whilst on the operating table he briefly suffers clinical death, after he is brought back to life there appear to be two heartbeats on the monitor, then this disappears. When Pelham awakes, he finds his life has been turned upside down, including changes in his job as director of a marine technology company, where he learns he is supporting a merger that he once opposed, and he is apparently having an affair. As time goes by, Pelham's friends, colleagues and acquaintances claim to have seen him in places where he has never been, and certainly has no memory of doing so. Pelham finds he is also being followed by a mysterious silver Lamborghini Islero, slowly he suspects someone is pretending to be him, but then he calls home, and is shocked to hear a voice identical to his. Pelham returns home, looking in bad shape, and he is shocked to find himself, a doppelganger, his family assume that the Pelham just entered is a stranger pretending to be him. In the end, both Pelhams get into a high speed car chase, until finally the ruined Pelham crashes and goes off the bridge into the river, the refined Pelham looks down at the wreckage, and appears to have a moment where the second personality leaves his body, then he walks away. Also starring Hildegard Neil as Eve Pelham, Alastair Mackenzie as Michael Pelham, Hugh Mackenzie as James Pelham, Kevork Malikyan as Luigi, Thorley Walters as Frank Bellamy, Anton Rodgers as Tony Alexander, Olga Georges-Picot as Julie Anderson, Freddie Jones as Dr. Harris - Psychiatrist, John Welsh as Sir Charles Freeman, Edward Chapman as Barton, Laurence Hardy as Mason, Charles Lloyd Pack (Roger's father) as Jameson and Gerald Sim as Morrison. Moore gives one of his most serious performances, as the respectable businessman, with a moustache, slowly descending into madness from either mistaken identity, split personality or a second incarnation, the eerie atmosphere just about sticks throughout the film, you question what is real and what is not sometimes, there are the slow moments, but overall it is an interesting enough psychological thriller. Worth watching!
Prismark10
Roger Moore has always taken his acting lightly. However you do not build a successful career in both UK and USA television and become a successful international film star without a modicum of talent.In The Man Who Haunted Himself, Moore plays a wealthy business executive Harold Pelham whose company is considering getting involved in a merger. We initially see Pelham dressed conservatively and driving home carefully. Somewhere along the road he seems to have become possessed, he speeds up his car and gets involved in a terrible car accident.As he recovers from his injuries, an alter ego is unleashed, more cavalier, risk taking, dashing and begins to live Pelham's life. This Pelham uses cunning to make his company's share sale to be even more profitable. He has a casual affair and even has a perked up sex life with his wife.The real Pelham slowly realises that a doppelganger is on the loose and tries to get his life back on track.Not a raised eyebrow in sight in this film. This is regarded as Moore's favourite film and he really shows his acting chops, Moore even gets to make a reference to James Bond, a role he would next play.The film is really an updated version of Jekyll & Hyde but there is a sense of eeriness as the film concentrates on the real, more dull Pelham when he hears reports of the other double's activities such as thrashing someone in snooker, dabbling in some industrial espionage or being in some swanky club leaving him confused.Director Basil Dearden might have shown a dated view of London for even the early 1970s but he gets a uniformly excellent performance from his cast and you genuinely wonder how the film will end as to which Pelham will win out.
