The Haunted Strangler

The Haunted Strangler (also known as Grip of the Strangler and originally titled The Judas Hole) is a 1958 British-American[3] horror film directed by Robert Day. It was adapted from "Stranglehold", a story which screenwriter Jan Read had written specially for Boris Karloff, and was shot back to back with producer Richard Gordon's Fiend Without a Face, with both later being released as a double feature by MGM.[4]

The Haunted Strangler
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRobert Day
Produced byJohn Croydon
executive
Richard Gordon
Written byJohn Croydon (as "John C. Cooper")
Jan Read
Based onan original story by Jan Read
StarringBoris Karloff
Jean Kent
Elizabeth Allan
Anthony Dawson
Music byBuxton Orr
CinematographyLionel Banes
Edited byPeter Mayhew
Production
company
Distributed byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer (U.S.)
Eros Films (U.K.)
Release date
June 3, 1958 (U.S.)
Running time
80 minutes
LanguageEnglish
Budget£80,000[1]
Box office$650,000 (on double bill)[2]

Plot

In Victorian era-London, Edward Styles is accused of being the notorious Haymarket Strangler, the brutal killer of five women. Twenty years afterward, he is tried and executed for these crimes. James Rankin (Karloff), a novelist and social reformer, launches an investigation to prove that Styles was innocent. His search for clues leads him first to the sleazy Judas Hole music hall, where the Strangler picked his victims from the resident can-can dancers and loose women, and then to the prison cemetery of Newgate where Styles was buried – in order to exhume his body. When the killings start again, Rankin's theory seems to be vindicated. However, his growing obsession with the case signals a most unwelcome revelation as to the true identity of the murderer.[5][6]

Cast

Production

The film was originally going to be called Stranglehold and was written by Jan Read, a friend of Boris Karloff's. He gave the script to producer Richard Gordon, who was looking to make a horror movie in the U.K. Gordon set up Amalgamated Productions with Charles Vetters and had started providing U.S. funding and talent for eight pictures shot in Britain.

Amalgamated went into partnership with British producer John Croydon and negotiated a deal with distributor Eros Films who agreed to guarantee 70% of the film's budget after delivery of the final product. The remaining 30% of the budget was provided by the National Film Finance Corporation.[1]

The agreement with Eros was conditional on Amalgamated providing a second film, so Gordon arranged to make Fiend Without a Face back to back with a different cast and director. MGM picked up both films for release.[1] Gordon later estimated the cost of the two movies together was approximately £80,000 exclusive of the costs of imported American stars.[7]

Read's script was rewritten by John Croydon, who brought in the idea of making the killer a Jack the Ripper-style murderer and having the transformation be physical (in the original draft, Rankin was only possessed by the killer's spirit).[1]

The film was shot in Walton Studios in Surrey.[1] Karloff was paid $27,500 for four weeks, with an option to make a second film for Amalgamated.[7]

Executive producer Richard Gordon and interviewer Tom Weaver talk about the making of The Haunted Strangler on the audio commentary of the Criterion DVD, available as part of the 2007 box set Monsters and Madmen.

Reception

According to MGM records, this film and Fiend Without a Face together earned $350,000 in the U.S. and Canada and $300,000 elsewhere, resulting in a profit to the studio of $160,000.[2]

See also

References
  1. John Hamilton, The British Independent Horror Film 1951–70, Hemlock Books 2013, p. 29-34
  2. The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
  3. Criterion Collection
  4. Stephen Jacobs, Boris Karloff: More Than a Monster, Tomahawk Press 2011, p. 410-412
  5. TCM.com
  6. The Criterion Channel
  7. Tom Weaver, The Horror Hits of Richard Gordon, Bear Manor Media 2011, p. 26-40
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