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One of my all time favorites.

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Not one of Boris Karloff's best films or performances, but very interesting, sort of a take on Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde with a miscarriage of justice element, and pretty good as a film. Even with the big problems it has, it is still one of Karloff's better later films, Grip of the Strangler's problems never reach rock-bottom quality like the Mexican films he starred in did. The script is on the simplistic side, there are some pacing problems with the film taking a little too long to get going and then feeling rushed towards the end, and the ending could have been better rounded off. It looks reasonable though, the settings are effective, the photography is crisp and the make-up for Karloff is used very well, when in his more murderous madman guise it is quite grotesque-looking. The music is also haunting and effectively used. There are some creepy moments and the atmosphere is unsettling and well-evoked. The story on the most part is interesting and entertaining, the first half is very promising especially. The performances are solid, best in support are Vera Day and Anthony Dawson. But only one performance comes off as really "great" and that is (predictably perhaps) Boris Karloff, as ever showing a gift for changing personalities expressively and sometimes subtly. All in all, Grip of the Strangler is a pretty good film, often decent and solid without reaching greatness excepting Karloff's performance, the best thing about the film by some considerable distance. 7/10 Bethany Cox

I had to check the date of this production, as it seemed to look more like a mid-forties' horror feature. But no, this movie was made in 1958. Which to my mind, was one of the more charming features of this film. I see a particularly negative review disparages the 'Todd Slaughter' quality of the film, but I disagree with the writer. Todd Slaughter was the supreme ham of all hams, and I actually find Karloff quite good here. (Then again, I do enjoy Slaughter's scene-chewing gastronomes!)There is a good film in here, but it is talky and slow-going. I enjoyed the opening hanging scene, with the wicked wench at the window taking bites of her apple. The scenes at the 'Judas Hole' offer lascivious glimpses at the dancers, and, pushing the envelope even further, the director has a dead woman uncovered, and the face is shown with her eyes wide open in terror. Not exactly the Val Lewton 'touch' of subtlety that might have helped the film.There is the obvious parallel to Stevenson's 'Jekyll and Hyde' in Karloff's 'Doctor Rankin'. The psychic connection to the strangler's knife is interesting (the scene in which Karloff sees the flame in the lamp and imagines his knife brings a welcome remembrance to James Whales' masterpiece "The Old Dark House").But the story is not told well, and the movie seems longer than its seventy-eight minute run time. Karloff's change into the strangler is subtle, a la Spencer Tracy's in 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'. It leaves the viewer wondering why no one noticed that it MIGHT be the good doctor, but Karloff pulls it off well. Any major transformation might be unbelievable. (As great an actor as Fredric March was, his 'Mr. Hyde' make-up is ludicrous...much too ape-like.)

When the weapon a killer uses looks exactly like a butter knife, you know reality is missing from the story you are about to see. That is the case with "The Haunted Strangler", an obscure Gothic thriller starring the legendary Boris Karloff two years after the death of his so-called rival, Bela Lugosi. This spooky looking melodrama is about a doctor's determination to find out the truth about a series of 20 year old murders that sent one man to the gallows and caused the disappearance of the man he believes to be the killer. Karloff, looking exactly as he did 20 years ago, is still the grand old man of horror, and comes off unscathed in a predictable story that sadly becomes obvious from the start. This is, however, still quite enjoyable as a study of grand guignol, the type of Gothic horror movie rarely made today without an overabundance of special effects. It's a step above the Monogram "Z" grade thrillers of the 40's. There are some unintentional chuckles, especially the "gruesome" face of the actual strangler which certainly gives the visual for the term "pickle puss". The scene where Karloff goes exploring a long-closed graveyard in the middle of the night is actually quite chilling, adding to the already spooky photography that is the film's highlight.

This is a unique film from Boris Karloff. I certainly can't say I've seen another film quite like it.Karloff plays a writer who is investigating the execution of "The Haymarket Strangler" twenty years earlier. Despite people insisting that the man executed was the killer, something within Karloff makes him investigate further. Eventually, when he obtains the knife used in the murders, it unlocks a dark secret within himself and the movie takes a very unusual turn.The film is pretty exciting and unusual but there is a negative as well. Despite a generally good performance by Karloff (he was amazingly physical considering his age and arthritis), when he became "mad", his face contorted in the most comical manner. Instead of making him look menacing, he just looked like he was mentally challenged. It just didn't work.Overall, compared to many of the later Karloff films, this one is pretty good--with decent production values and script. While not a great film, it's a very good time passer and one that his fans should certainly see.