'Paranoiac' (1963) – Freddie Francis.

One of Hammer Films most creepily commendable, manifestly unsettling monochrome murder mysteries, wherein the devastating effects of grief, and a long-simmering madness bring such great misfortune to the conspicuously wealthy, no longer grand Ashby family. Master scrivener Jimmy Sangster's ominously fascinating, twist-laden, terminally terrifying tale of deadly duplicity, galloping greed, and callous, cold-blooded murder still makes for an uncommonly chilling celluloid nightmare! With a horrifically Hitchcockian zeal for the morbidly macabre, talented director Freddie Francis utilizes his magnificent cast most splendidly, coaxing an especially vibrant, doom-laden, animalistically brooding performance from a devilishly handsome young Oliver Reed as the profoundly tormented, rabidly drunken heir Simon Ashby. 'Paranoiac' has much to recommend it to classic horror/mystery fans, with its rigorously engaging plot, delectably sinister, spine-jangling shocks, and a rousing grisly-Gothic climax to rival that of horror-master Edgar Allen Poe himself! Freddie Francis's feverish 'Paranoiac' is further enlivened by the spare, exquisitely eerie score by maestro Elizabeth Lutyens, including a luminously captivating performance of remarkable fragility by the beautiful Jeanette Scott, and some genuinely menacing, marrow curdling creepiness, this exceptional monochrome Hammer Horror classic is anything but bloodless, robustly offering strong-willed fright-fans some truly monstrous, grave-deep creeps!