Tormented (1960) (Special Edition) (Blu-ray Review)
DIRECTED BY: Bert I. Gordon
STARRING: Richard Carlson, Susan Gordon, Lugene Sanders
RATED: UR/Region: A/1:66/1080P/NUMBER OF DISCS 1 (BDr)
AVAILABLE FROM Gemini Entertainment
Tormented is one of those early ’60s chillers where the premise is genuinely creepy, the atmosphere is solid, and the execution… well, let’s just say the ghost isn’t the only thing struggling to hold itself together.
Richard Carlson stars as Tom Stewart, a jazz pianist who accidentally lets his ex fall to her death because she’s being inconvenient. Yes, that’s the plot. Forget moral dilemmas—Tom takes all of five seconds to decide, “Eh, gravity’s already doing the work.” Naturally, this leads to a haunting that’s far more persistent than his sense of guilt.
The ghostly girlfriend shows up everywhere: in the fog, in photographs, in Tom’s conscience like a very dramatic pop-up ad. Sometimes she’s eerie, sometimes she’s spooky, and sometimes she looks like she wandered in from a community theater production of Hamlet. And yet… it kind of works? The film keeps leaning into its own absurdity with such commitment that you have to respect it.
But let’s not kid ourselves: Tormented has the pacing of a man slowly walking up lighthouse stairs while thinking about his mortgage. There are stretches where nothing happens except Tom sweating, Tom panicking, and Tom inventing new ways to look suspicious. The supporting characters, meanwhile, range from “pleasantly clueless” to “actively trying to get murdered.” The child actress is oddly the most competent person in the whole movie, which tells you everything you need to know.
And then there’s the special effects—floating heads, ghostly dissolves, and a spectral hand that looks like it was borrowed from a Halloween store clearance bin. Are they convincing? Not exactly. Are they charming in that “I love you for trying” way? Absolutely.
Still, beneath the camp and melodrama, there’s a legitimately atmospheric little thriller here. The isolated island setting is great, the lighthouse sequences carry some real tension, and Carlson, to his credit, sells the idea of being tormented even when the ghost looks like she’s struggling to stay in frame.
In the end, Tormented is a delightfully uneven romp—a supernatural soap opera where guilt manifests as a special-effects department doing its best. It’s spooky, silly, and strangely addictive, even when it slips into full cornball territory. A mixed bag, sure, but a very watchable one.
Extras
- Famous Ghost Stories Version of the Film
- Bert I. Gordon Trailer Reel
- Stills Gallery
- Digital Liner Notes
- English and Japanese Subtitles
