Cubussoli Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Micitype Pretty Good

FeistyUpper If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Rainey Dawn Extremely atmospheric at times... eerie, dark and suspenseful. I loved all the film minus the ending. Eerie Halloween costumes, creepy dolls, a very protective - almost evil - German Shepard, strange happenings in the town of Eden Rock, Massachusetts, dead roses, a scary old lady, a witch in town - yea this film has everything needed for a great horror film if they would have kept it that way in the ending.I really liked Rev. Jim Stevens he's a really good character and his church sermon was scene was great - if you have seen this film you know the scene I'm speaking of - really outstanding.The dead roses scene at the beginning of the film would have been good IF John Loder, who plays Dr. Matt Adams, would have acted shocked about the fresh roses being dead when he gave them to Nancy Kelly (who plays Lorna Webster). He almost ruined that scene with his wooden performance - at least Nancy Kelly continued with grace.I would have rated this film 9/10 if it wasn't for the ending - the film is great but I was disappointed with the ending.7/10

mark.waltz Great spooky visuals open this story of a small Massachussats town whose past comes back to haunt them in this supernatural thriller. Nancy Kelly is the descendant of the judge who sentenced a bunch of people to death on the suspicion of being witches. She is returning home after having run out on her fiancée (John Loder) and while on the bus, she is joined by a spooky looking old lady (the always wonderful Elspeth Dudgeon) who claims to be a witch from centuries before. The bus suddenly careens off a bridge into the river below and of the dozens killed, only Kelly survives. The town doesn't exactly welcome her back with open arms as her ex-fiancée's sister (Ruth Ford) is mysteriously stalked, Ford's daughter's fish are accidentally poisoned by Kelly (accidently picking up poison instead of fish food), and a mysterious doberman stalks Kelly everywhere she goes. After her nervous housekeeper (the prickly Almira Sessions) quits, rumors of her being a witch start to spread, and Kelly's own behavior begins to make Loder question whether or not this is true. Only the town's reverend (Otto Kruger) has any doubts of what's going on, and even his faith will be tested as well.There's so much potential in this Republic horror movie that is totally a let down with its Scooby Doo like ending. Certainly, there's enough evidence presented in the various character's research of their own town's wretched history to have given the opportunity for this to take on some maudlin twists rather than the let down which happens at the end. In fact, you can see that coming, and what is at first entrancing you with its mystery becomes more obvious towards the end. Elspeth Dudgeon had several similar roles years before in some Warner Brothers mystery that gave the opportunity to create a character for which she would be long remembered, but other than her spooky appearance at the beginning, she is only mentioned afterwords. Certain plot elements give way to the fact that this is going to end in a more satisfying angle, and had somebody like Val Lewton or Tod Browning been behind its creation, it certainly could have gone down that path.How would I have ended it? Certainly, the character that Nancy Kelly is playing seems to be under some sort of curse. Even if Dudgeon's character had not been a witch, her spirit could still have roamed the earth in search of revenge, and with the letter that claimed she would be around for a 300 year period until her death was avenged, it really seemed as if Kelly would be possessed by this bad seed that caused her to do witch-like things and arise the townspeople's suspicions. A "Frankenstein" chase at the end between the townspeople and Kelly under Lewton's camera eye would have ended with her falling over a cliff and when her corpse is discovered revealed to be Dudgeon's long-dead character instead. Like the same year's "The Body Snatcher", that would have given the viewers a thrill in addition to the chill, but what does happen at the end is a chilly reaction to how these writers chose to end a missed opportunity rather than making it into the classic it could have become.

bkoganbing Very old Elspeth Dudgeon flags down a bus and sits next to Nancy Kelly the descendant of an old hanging judge, or maybe burning judge would be better of the town she's headed for. Right after the bus crashes and everybody dies except for Kelly and the fierce German Shepherd dog who was Dudgeon's companion. When she gets back all kinds of things start happening to make Kelly thinks she's possessed by the spirit of one of those women that was burned as a witch who threatened to come back and get even. For one thing the old woman's body was not accounted for. It's all a puzzle to the town doctor John Loder and the town preacher Otto Kruger. In the words of that old Fred Astaire song, this film builds you up to an awful let down. Some compare it to a Val Lewton type thriller. I think if Lewton had anything to do with it he was right to keep his name off.Everyone looks so earnest in this film though. A shame for some talented players to waste their time.

ThrownMuse Lorna Webster (Nancy Kelly) is a young woman returning by bus to her home town of Eben Rock. Just outside of town, the driver swerves to avoid hitting an old woman and her dog. The woman boards the bus and sits next to Lorna, claiming she is a 300 year old witch and knows the Webster family history. Lorna, who has descended from a judge notorious for burning innocent women at the cross hundreds of years ago, understandably freaks out. The bus goes over a cliff and Lorna is the only survivor. She goes back to the empty house she inherited, and gets back in touch with the lover she walked out on two years ago. The townspeople don't take well to Lorna's presence, as she is a woman who both left and returned under mysterious circumstances. Strange things start to happen to around her, and Lorna convinces herself that she has been possessed by the spirit of the woman who sat next to her on the bus. Before long, others in town start to believe she is a witch and mass hysteria ensues.I had never heard of this movie until I watched "The Bad Seed" last month. I was impressed with Kelly's performance as the tortured mother of the fiendish child. I decided to check to see if she did any other work in the genre and stumbled across this interesting film. Her performance is just as strong and believable as the confused and tormented Lorna Webster.The film is rather eerie and beautifully filmed. There are creepy scenes with excellent lighting and shadow play, where Lorna is alone in her family's dark mansion, thinking about her ancestors' history, haunted by nighttime sounds and shadows. The dog that belonged to the woman on the bus seems to follow her wherever she goes and has a very ominous presence. Is Lorna going crazy, or is she really possessed by a witch? While the movie tries to straddle this line between psychological and supernatural, and is effective part of the time, it works best as a statement about mass panic and judgment. The townsfolk know that Lorna is descendant from a judge who condemned innocent women as witches, yet are quickly thrust into the 17th century themselves as soon as Lorna shows that she's a little off-kilter. The movie works on another level, as Lorna is a small-town woman in the 40s who asserts her independence by leaving her home and her lover without explanation. She is secretly reviled by everyone upon her return for these reasons, as well as being the only survivor of the bus accident, which is probably why they are so quick to jump to conclusions about her presence.The film is rather short and the ending is sort of a groaner that in that it is wrapped up too easily and makes some of the earlier scenes seem questionable. But overall, this is a good, eerie film with a strong lead performance.