Thursday, November 6, 2014

STOP ME BEFORE I KILL!

STOP ME BEFORE I KILL! (1960). Director: Val Guest.

Race car driver Alan Colby (Ronald Lewis of Scream of Fear) is still recovering from a very serious highway accident and is on vacation with his wife, Denise (Diane Cilento of The Third Secret). Alan loves Denise, but has recurring feelings that he may harm or even kill her due to a neurotic nature he can't control. Denise seeks help from slimy psychiatrist David Prade (Claude Dauphin), whom most people wouldn't buy a used car from or anything else. Can Prade get to the root of Alan's psychological problems before disaster occurs? Stop Me Before I Kill! features a fine lead performance from Lewis, and a notable supporting performance from Francoise Rosay [September Affair] as David's mother -- the others are not bad, either -- but it's slowww, long, stagy and talky, and would have been better off as a half hour TV episode, although the "twist" in this can be seen coming practically from the first. An honest-to-goodness plot never really develops.

Verdict: A Hammer thriller that bores much more than it thrills. **.

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