Director: Bert I. Gordon
Cast: Richard Carlson, Julie Reding, Susan Gordon, Lugene Sanders, Joe Turkel
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Running Time: 70 minutes
Distributed by: Warner Archive
Our Score: 5 out of 5 stars
When in comes to Bert I. Gordon, I am one of his biggest fans. I had a chance to pick his brain a few years back, read interview here, and was a highlight of my career. He is known for his creature films like “The Amazing Colossal Man”, “Empire of the Ants” and “Earth vs. The Spider” but “Tormented” is much different yet still equally amazing. I haven’t seen this film in many years since it has not had a proper DVD release in the past, but it still holds up today. It is still well formed, packs a few good spooks and is just great fun from the early 60’s. If you are a fan of classic suspense horror, then this release is a must! Highly recommend!
Official Premise: Richard Carlson stars in this thrill-fest as a man haunted by a nagging conscience and a dead lover! Jazz pianist Tom Stewart (Carlson) is headed for Carnegie Hall – right after he marries his lovely fiancée Meg (Lugene Sanders). But when Vi Mason (Juli Reding), a lounge singer Tom rejected, shows up at the island lighthouse where Tom practices, she insists that no one will marry Tom but her. After she accidentally falls over a railing to her death, Vi returns as a ghost bent on revenge. Slowly, Tom loses his grip on reality, and it’s a matter of time before tragedy strikes again in Tormented!
Richard Carlson is amazing in this film and really captures and creates the right amount of suspense with his character. Also I should point out that Joe Turkel also has a role in this film. If you don’t know him by name, Joe plays Lloyd the Bartender in “The Shining”. You also got to love the aged dialogue including “It’s bad enough to welcome a musician into this family…but a jazz musician it is just too much!” What a riot! “Tormented” is being released on made-to-order DVD, thanks to Warner Archive. It is presented with an aspect ratio of 1.78:1. The transfer looks amazing for a film that is over 50 years old. The Dolby Digital track also works well with the score, which adds a lot of great suspense. I really loved this film and this release is a great tribute to it.
