In foggy 1888 London, the notorious Jack the Ripper is slashing women and terrorizing the city. A large but soft-spoken pathologist going under the alias of "Slade" (Laird Cregar) takes up residence in a boarding house and is immediately suspected of being the serial killing Ripper as he exhibits key traits of a murderer and arouses the suspicions of everyone in the household.
Directed with style by John Brahm (who would later team with Cregar again for HANGOVER SQUARE, which is also highly recommended) this movie boasts wonderful lighting and cinematography, excellent mood and atmosphere, as well as terrific performances from the entire cast. Laird Cregar is both fearsome as well as sympathetic as he plays a sexually twisted maniac for one of the rare times in this cinematic time period. I especially liked Sir Cedric Hardwicke here, and this may be the best acting I've seen from him in a horror film. On the DVD extra features, Greg Mank (who should have done this audio commentary) calls THE LODGER the "best horror film of the 1940s". After having finally seen it, I can say that while I wouldn't call it the best, I'd certainly place it up there along with the best of the handsome Val Lewton productions of the decade. *** out of ****
Directed with style by John Brahm (who would later team with Cregar again for HANGOVER SQUARE, which is also highly recommended) this movie boasts wonderful lighting and cinematography, excellent mood and atmosphere, as well as terrific performances from the entire cast. Laird Cregar is both fearsome as well as sympathetic as he plays a sexually twisted maniac for one of the rare times in this cinematic time period. I especially liked Sir Cedric Hardwicke here, and this may be the best acting I've seen from him in a horror film. On the DVD extra features, Greg Mank (who should have done this audio commentary) calls THE LODGER the "best horror film of the 1940s". After having finally seen it, I can say that while I wouldn't call it the best, I'd certainly place it up there along with the best of the handsome Val Lewton productions of the decade. *** out of ****