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The Spiral Staircase (1946)
In director Robert Siodmak's suspenseful psychological
drama - a classic,
old-fashioned haunted house horror tale with Gothic (and Hitchcockian)
elements that involved a threatened female and a serial killer (who
specialized in killing imperfect, physically-flawed, handicapped
or "afflicted"
women):
- the atmosphere of terror and suspense in an old,
large spooky and dark mansion headed by the mansion's wealthy,
widowed, bed-ridden invalid matron Mrs. Warren (Ethel Barrymore)
- the frightening elements - a raging storm outside,
high contrast or light and dark shadows, a spiral staircase, closeups
of the killer's menacing eyeball, a view of feet behind a heavy
curtain, gusts of wind, flickering candlelights, and creaking doors -
all tormenting to a young victimized mute servant girl-caretaker
Helen Chapel (Dorothy McGuire)
- the suspenseful climax of Helen's scream at the
moment of her greatest peril on the spiral staircase, when
she was saved by Mrs. Warren who emerged
from her bed, staggered out and shot her stepson, the attacking
killer - anti-social, scholarly biologist Professor Albert Warren
(George Brent); the old lady then collapsed, fainted (or died?)
in the arms of her younger son Steven
Warren (Gordon Oliver)
- in the suspenseful
climax, now with restored speech, Helen then uttered her first
words since childhood with a phone call to an operator, asking
for her bachelor-suitor Dr. Parry
(Kent Smith), Mrs. Warren's local physician: ("1-8-9...Dr. Parry...Come...It's
I, Helen")
- the film's final line of dialogue
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