The House in Marsh Road (1960)

You won't be disappointed!

Too much of everything

Sadly Over-hyped

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

I enjoyed this unusual B movie, it's basically 75% domestic murder story, 25% supernatural thriller. Jean inherits a house, moves her drunken no good partner David in, and he meets someone else, a voluptuous blonde, Valerie Stockley. Valerie persuades David to kill his wife, but Jean is protected by a poltergheist, wonderfully named Patrick by the potty Irish maid Mrs O'Brien.It's unusual to say the least, I can't think of many supernatural murder mysteries, but it works. Patricia Bainton appeared in some cracking films in the 50's and 60's, my favourite being The Third Alibi, and once again she's pretty good. Sandra Dorne is pretty fabulous it has to be said.I'm struggling to believe it was made in 1960, it looks like it was should in the forties, production values are pretty poor, although the fire is pretty well done.

This sort of film was quite popular in the fifties and sixties.A poltergeist or ghost making its presence felt.The whole effect here is quite successful up to a point.Unfortunately this point is the climax.The poltergeist decides that it has had enough of Tony wright and his dalliance with Sandra Dorne and rolls a burning coal from an unguarded fire.It conveniently ensures that the fire creeps upstairs to where they are having a fun time in the marital bedroom.The door and windows wont open till its too late and eventually Wright and Dorne and the house are reduced to ashes.I was hoping for a rather more chilling climax.

1960's "Invisible Creature" was one of the numerous foreign titles (British, Japanese, Mexican, West German) issued straight to television in the US by American International Pictures, who even hired home grown talent to supply them with product (Larry Buchanan in particular-"Zontar the Thing from Venus"). The American copyright is 1964, and the film debuted on Pittsburgh's Chiller Theater on May 8 1965 (paired with 1959's "A Bucket of Blood"), shown again July 23 1966 (paired with 1958's "It! The Terror from Beyond Space"), and finally on August 2 1969 (paired with 1958's "Terror in the Haunted House"). Constantly shown throughout that decade, few of these have survived the test of time to be revived anymore. Today, "Invisible Creature" is deservedly obscure, as it is very low key, with a tiny no name cast (Sam Kydd a welcome presence) and nonexistent budget. Also, the new American title rather gives the game away, the original British version called "The House in Marsh Road." Patricia Dainton stars as Jean Linton, the wife of a once successful author (Tony Wright) now drinking more than he writes, who inherits a two story country cottage inhabited by a ghost. Once the husband's wandering eye settles on an attractive widow (Sandra Dorne) who prefers the company of wealth, he begins to plot a way to bump off his unknowing spouse so he can rid himself of her ancestral home. What the pair don't know is that the never seen spectre appreciates Jean far more than they do, watching over her while she remains under its roof. The exotic Sandra Dorne would meet a similar fate in 1963's "Devil Doll." I've always held a certain fondness for this one even though it's fairly predictable, but those who never viewed it back then may find it unrewarding.

This nicely scary little ghost story is pretty straight-forward = in plot. A husband with a sexy mistress is trying to murder his wife, and a protect= ive (family-owned) poltergeist blocks him at every attempt. But the brief summary fails to convey some fine performances and lovely atmospherics t= hat rise above what is basically a "B" - level thriller. The women take act= ing honors -- Sandra Dorne is probably at her most-enticing ripeness as the buxom blonde divorcée who lures David Linton to his doom, and she pani= cs beautifully when trapped with her lover in the doomed house; Patricia Dainton is convincing, too, as the long-suffering wife of the promiscuou= s David. Third, for comic relief, Anita Sharp-Bolster is hilarious as the Irish housekeeper, who complains about "Patrick," whom she's named after her husband "because she never sees him" either! The black and white photography is moody and penetrating, as is the haunting music of John Veale (though it gets too loud and overrides the dialogue once or twice.= ) A hard-to-find video is available from several U.S. sources, both as "Invisible Creature" and "The House in Marsh Road."