Watch The Snorkel For Free

Fantastic!

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Although the police have termed her mother's death by gas a suicide, a teenage girl (Mandy Miller) believes her step-father (Peter VanEyck) murdered her.Hammer may be best known for their horror films, but they made some pretty fine thrillers and murder mysteries, too, as this film attests. Helmed by Guy Green (who made his name under David Lean) and written by Hammer's Jimmy Sangster, this is just pure genius beginning to end.From the opening scene, we know how the killer does his work... but then we watch and see if his teenage stepdaughter can find out. Blaming someone for murder is one thing, but finding solid proof is something else entirely.

The Snorkel (what a terrible title!) starts out in a very Columbo- ish way. We SEE the killer committing his murder, and exactly how he does it. The rest of the film follows two threads - one is his young step-daughter, gradually piecing together the puzzle; while the other are all the adult authority figures suppressing and threatening her. So the film is both a murder mystery, plus an "uncaring adults vs. poor child" story. It's well-done, well-acted, and has some tense moments. It is emphatically NOT a horror story, but it is interesting enough for what it is. One reviewer opined that the snorkel system used by the killer would not work, because no one could breath through a hose 10 feet long (which is about what he has in the film). However the film specifically shows that he has TWO hoses - presumably one for intake, and one for outgo, which would, indeed work effectively. Though the film doesn't harp on it. It is just shown without comment. Peter van Eyck does a good job as the villain, and Mandy Miller as the daughter is a surprisingly good actress for a 13 year old kid.

Minor but entertaining Hammer thriller, not quite reaching the heights of other entries in their "psychological thrillers" ouevre, but still effective.The film starts right off with it's main murderer on screen committing his evil deed, clearly establishing his (and the film's) gimmick of the snorkel used as an accessory to murder. So from the very beginning we know this is not going to be a whodunnit. What we have here instead here is a "who will find out" plot. Once the opening credits have finished, the main plot of the film starts with the daughter of the murder victim feeling almost positive that she knows who is responsible for the deed but at the same time, unable to prove it, as nobody has been able to work out how the act was committed, and therefore the killer has got away with it. The more agitated the daughter becomes, the more the killer starts to see her as a threat to his freedom, and so a cat and mouse game starts to build as both try to outwit each other.This sounds complicated, and it is, but the roles in the film are quite well defined. The killer is a creepy but charismatic older man, able to convince everyone that he is actually mourning his dead wife, and the "suspector" is a teenage girl who everyone thinks is just over imaginative. I could almost imagine William Castle making this film! The acting is very good, and it's all very British and proper. There are plot twists and the climax is clever and worth waiting for, although as a whole the film has dated somewhat. Quite hard to see now, seemingly only available on the Sony 6 film box set DVD "Icons of Suspense", which is worth a purchase due to it having 5 other hard to see Hammer thrillers. So "The Snorkel" gets a thumbs up from me.

...but in much more tragic circumstances than the teenage young detective .This is an entertaining thriller,quite suspenseful,even if its title is some kind of spoiler.Peter Van Eyck is ideally cast as the villain but the ending would have been better if the last scene in the police station had been deleted : the last scene in the house might indicate that Mandy is losing her mind ,which was an interesting idea.The ending leaves no mystery,which is unworthy of Hammer .Watch it anyway !Peter Van Eyck is really scary with his snorkel while the young Many Miller,though not as brilliant as Pamela Franklin ,is quite good.