Noutions Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Scarecrow-88 Not too shabby mid-60s "house of unknown surprises" horror film has Caesar Romero as a magician who accidentally kills his beautiful wife (Connie Stevens) during an ill-fated, unwise guillotine trick and suffers madness as a result. Leaving the public scene due to the inability to cope with the loss, Romero's Duquesne never recovers, his daughter going to live with an aunt in Wisconsin. When he is reported dead and buried alive in an open-faced coffin, the daughter as an adult, Cassie (also Connie Stevens) returns to attend his funeral. She is told that she must live in the home of her father seven days from midnight until dawn to receive a hefty inheritance. If she doesn't, Duquesne's money goes to his loyal servant, Dolly (Virginia Gregg) and confidante, Buzzy (Parley Baer). A series of surprises (including a skeleton flying out of a closet on anyone who turns the living room light on, a head falling out of a barrel and tumbling down the stairs, sound of a woman wailing coming out of a stereo system from a cassette player, and rooms leading one place into a totally different part of the house) await her and a young man she meets at her pops' funeral, Val Henderson (Dean Jones; quite charming and appealing). Val is actually a reporter perhaps looking for a story on the daughter of a famous magician who left the public view eventually falling in love with her (and vice versa). Duquesne claims he will perform his greatest illusion yet: returning from beyond the grave! Doesn't reinvent the wheel here and follows a familiar formula William Castle was successful in over at Columbia Pictures, "Two on a Guillotine" is the Warner Bros. alternative for fans of B&W gimmicky horror films done on the cheap. I think the film gets a lot of mileage out of the chemistry of Connie and Dean, but the plot doesn't offer anything you won't see in Strait-Jacket or Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte. Romero is in what constitutes a cameo, believing his daughter is his wife, also wanting to make the guillotine trick a success. Gregg as the lovestruck and heart-broken servant who loved and devoted herself to Duquesne has a big emotional scene where she pours her heart out to Cassie, while the familial reunion gets a bit weird when Romero can't differentiate wife from daughter. Macabre conclusion helps, but I think this is a bit derivative of other films without doing much to stand out on its own. Connie is a looker, though. Dean is a likable, unflappable leading man…it is no surprise he was so successful with Disney.

LeonLouisRicci Actor/Director William Conrad tried His hand with a few Unremarkable Films in the Mid Sixties. His Talent was mainly as a Radio Voice Actor and Playing "Heavies" in some pretty Good Movies. But Directing was certainly Not His Forte.This Fondly Remembered Movie was a William Castle Rip-Off that only proved that the "Poor Man's Hitchcock" was indeed a Craftsman. Here the Movie Craft is nothing more than Recycled, Tame, and sometimes Unintentionally Laughable. Stella Stevens does OK despite being Saddled with some Terrible Hairdos. Dean Jones is Miscast, or perhaps the Movie is just too Mishandled, as the Love Interest and Cesar Romero is quite Good as a Mad Magician. The Movie is Highlighted by a Strong Acting Performance by Virginia Gregg as a Lover Unrequited.Max Steiner's Score is Inconsistent and Hokey, but then again, the Film is Hokey Personified and at best it is Harmless Juvenile Fun and at worst it is a Misfire of the First Order. A White Rabbit all but Steals the Show.

GL84 Forced to stay in her father's mansion for an inheritance, a woman and her friend find the entire estate rigged to allow him the chance at performing the greatest illusion of all time and forcing him to save her from his clutches.Overall this one wasn't really all that bad but did have a few flaws. What really seems to lower this one is the rather blatant and obvious set-up this utilizes in dragging out the running time here far beyond necessary simply because of the set-up required. The first half here is basically built around the concept of her going out and spending the time here going around and inspecting the house, resulting in nothing but endless scenes of the two of them inspecting his mystical traps and holdings from his past but doesn't really generate anything in the form of highly suspenseful tactics. Likewise, the whole story is presented into the final act twist that doesn't really seem all that shocking or twisted at all but all seems built into such a logical conclusion that there's no suspense or shock to be derived from it, plays out exactly the way it's supposed to be and never comes off all that well anyway as it's so obvious from the start which seems to follow suit with the rest of the scenes here as this one tends to play through it's running time with really unsurprising and cliché motivations for everything within this. There's some rather fun times here still within this, which is mainly centered around the fun had here in the mansion waiting around for something to happen, which is quite elaborate, chilling and seemingly made for something like this and really provokes quite a dark air about itself that's quite appealing overall. As well, the final half here is fantastic with the plot twist bringing about more action in numerous chases and brawls around the house, a fantastically maniacal air about the different stage shows and really elevates this one by really playing with the twists logically throughout here into a fun and enjoyable part that makes the most of this one. While there's some flawed areas elsewhere that do lower this one, it's still enjoyable and highly watchable.Today's Rating-PG: Violence.

nellybly-3 I saw this movie several times in the late '60s to mid '70s on local (Los Angeles) television and then it disappeared. I enjoyed it a lot, especially Cesar Romero and Connie Stevens. I had wandered over here from Connie Stevens' biography.The viewing I remember most occurred in 1975. I was in Harbor General Hospital in Torrance, California (Los Angeles County). I had just given birth to twin girls a day or two previous; new mothers and babies were kept in the hospital for three days back then. The babies weren't kept in the room with us. Being a county/teaching hospital they didn't put extras like TVs in the rooms and there were four beds to a room. One of the gals brought her 13" b/w set complete with rabbit ears. Since it was across the room on the other side from me on the window sill, I sat on the edge of another new mommy's bed and watched it.Reading various areas of this title I've found out it's out on DVD. I'll have to see about getting hold of it and see if I still enjoy it as much as I remember. I always got a kick out of that kind of movie. They never really took themselves seriously. Vincent Price appeared in a lot of those and it wouldn't have been surprising if he'd been in it instead of Romero. Would have been right up his alley.