Someone Behind the Door (1971)

Thanks for the memories!

ridiculous rating

Am I Missing Something?

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

A slow moving thriller with no thrills, suspense or logic to it. Anthony Perkins turns in an unconvincing performance as a brain surgeon and criminal mastermind. Charles Bronson, playing an amnesia victim, spends the whole time looking lost and confused; Maybe he thought he was part of the audience. Jill Ireland looks good but shows no real talent for acting. The lack of a tense background score (Instead, a movement from Dvorak's "New World Symphony" plays on a record player) makes the proceedings seem even more dry and lifeless. The tedium goes on far too long, with scant reward for those viewers who make it to the end. Cannot recommend this film.

Nicolas Gessner adapted well this story from a french bestseller,with two great stars Charles Bronson,and Anthony Perekins.Now it's really about acting and story,I mean this just could not be a bad movie.I feel like most of us wanted to see Charles Bronson playing a character we could not decide who is he in this situation.This role shows he's real acting skills are better than what you think.This film was not just a mirror exercises for him,today when we just crying back real character filling,this film has real right to exist for crime -thriller fans,and all for those wants to see a good drama.While this is not a feel good movie,you have to understand it's about how important something that now I can not tell you cause,it will hurt your watch.7/10-recommended.

The only other movie I have ever watched with Anthony Perkins as a lead was Psycho and as far as this movie goes, I really think Mr. Perkins had an uncanny knack for playing creeps very well in film. Charles Bronson's role as an amnesiac who is trying to piece together his finite and cloudy past amidst Perkin's manipulative ways is just superbly amazing. This film might possibly possess one of the finest performances Mr. Bronson has ever done. Jill Ireland turns in a good performance as Frances, the wife of Perkin's character who dabbles in adultery behind his back from time to time. This film really has a lot of potential to be a very good suspense chiller but it lacks what you'd call a satisfactory climax. It seems as if the ending was rushed along so the end credits could come quicker. 6 out of 10 stars, good job by Charles Bronson.

A man is brought to a hospital with a severe case of amnesia and neurosurgeon Laurence Jeffries takes it upon himself to help out the patient. He dismisses it as intoxication, and pretends to take him to the station. However he brings him back to his home, but the motivation for this is unclear, and everything he's doing to supposedly treat him is done in secrecy. The identity of the stranger is becoming clearer, but so are the doctor's true intentions as he begins to manipulate the situation. Confined, low-key low-budget French/Italian psychological drama with commendable performances by Charles Bronson and Anthony Perkins. The whole-set-up is like a stage show, were it lies heavily upon the expressively versatile performances and ambitiously novel material. The layer-bound premise is totally illogical, but strangely absorbing with its unforeseeable offbeat nature of offering up numerous surprises, and interestingly unlikely developments. However there are some questionable, teething problems involving the scheming, and its possible outcome. There's just too many cracks, to make it bullet proof that you just wonder if there was much thought put in behind it. Still there are elements that are smartly conceived, and this can be contributed to the manipulative tension (where the repressed anger, and violence is played out through a human tool) and mind-messing that director Nicolas Gessner (the man behind the superb 'The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane (1976)') ably works in. As well the believably committed turns of the two leads. Bronson and Perkins worked off each other magnificently. Perkins' cold, planned performance with Bronson's disorientated, assailable figure is sincerely pre-figured. There's no doubt this is one of Bronson's best acting turns. Jill Ireland is adequate in her small role. Gessner's sure-footed direction subtly paints a glum, intrusive puzzle with unique filming techniques that slowly strings you along to a powerfully bitter climax, which finally concludes on an inspired final shot of possible sickening regret. Sometimes it loses out by ponderously stretching it out too much with some raggedy editing, and another weak spot was the playful, but unremarkable misplaced music score by Georges Garvarentz. It just didn't add any sort of punch, or feel. Pierre Lhomme's slick cinematography is steadily framed.