I always enjoy Basil Rathbone, but this may be the strongest combination of his snobby upper crust superiority and his viper interior. (He would’ve made a great Hannibal Lector.) It’s what puts him above Vincent Price. When Price is playing the gentleman you can see the murder in his eyes, Rathbone is genuinely charming. You want to believe him even though you’re aware this is psychological horror.
I was surprised to discover the plot is very similar to Joon-ho Bong’s Parasite, so much so that there are scenes that play out nearly identical. (I can’t find any evidence on the net, which makes me feel like I’ve stumbled onto a secret.) This doesn’t have Bong’s way of genre-bending surprises or the underlying theme of class struggle, but as a thriller, this has a higher feeling of helplessness and anxiety for the title character. BTW, she’s played by a favorite of mine too, Aline MacMahon (Heat Lightning), so there’s a lot to like here.
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