Maniac (1963)

By CinemaSerf

I only recall Kerwin Matthews from his role as "Sinbad" back in 1958. He was an handsome enough man but hardly versatile as an actor. That's a shame because this could have been a much better intrigue had that role been better cast. As it is, he is "Jeff", a drifter who falls for "Annette" (Liliane Brousse) in a small French village. Her stepmother "Eve" (Nadia Grey) takes a bit of a shine to him, and uses her wiles to trick this rather gullible man into helping her organise the escape of her husband from the local asylum where he was imprisoned after committing a rather gruesome murder. Unbeknown to poor old "Jeff" though, that's not the real agenda for the manipulative "Eve" and the arrival of "Henri" (Donald Houston) raises the danger levels for "Annette"... Can he, and local policeman "Etienne" (George Pastell), thwart the lethal plan before it's too late? Sadly, Matthews is not the only dud in this lacklustre group of actors. Houston exudes not the slightest degree of menace and neither woman have that Jeanne Moreau touch that might have lent, particularly to the character that is "Eve". It's only ninety minutes, but it did drag rather - and the ending is a bit disappointing too. It's watchable, but don't expect to be blown away.