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The film concerns upon a gorgeous heroine(Anna Lee) who 's falsely accused as nutty and wrongfully jailed in famous Bedlam asylum governed by an evil ruler (Boris Karloff) in England during 18th century .

Suspense , macabre and horror is exposed lurking , menacing , harassing in rooms, stairs , doors and reflected on the sensationalistic and cruel interpretation by Karloff . Over-the-top terror picture filled with thrills , intrigue , drama , some moments of shock and results to be pretty entertaining . Atmospheric goings-on dominate this typically tasteful horror study from director Mark Robson . Movie scenarios are based on William Hogarth paintings that imaginatively bring to life scenes about madhouse ; besides it has ideas adapted from Edgar Alan Poe writings , especially in its final conclusion . There is a certain social critical referred to horrible and revulsive conditions in which the nuts are forced to live .

The motion picture has a dark atmosphere created by Nicholas Musuruca (Stranger on third floor and Cat people) , he makes an awesome camera work , along with John Alton are the fundamental creators of Noir Film photography . As cinematography is magnificent , lights and dark are originating an eerie and creepy scenario . The movie was produced by RKO and the last of the famed Val Lewton films , the biggest producer of horror classics (Iwalked with a Zombie , Cat people , Leopard man , Ghost ship), plus he produced for director Mark Robson various films (Isle of the dead , Seventh victim) with similar technicians and artists . R.K.O. gave Val Lewton little budget to make the film , resulting in "creative" producing . In fact ; because of the incredibly tight budget, sets from other films were re-used . RKO usual musician ,Roy Webb , creates a fine score with the habitual musical director Bakaleinikoff . Excellent set design at charge of Albert D'Agostino . The picture was rightly directed by Mark Robson . Addicts of Karloff and horror should no account miss this movie . The flick will appeal to classic cinema moviegoers .

Boris Karloff stars as a sinister administrator of an asylum in the 18th century, who manages to manipulate a socially conscious young, and sane woman (Anna Lee) to be placed under his care.

Karloff is reliable as always,and Lee's character, while she can be somewhat ignorant of the mentally ill, does eventually realize that even the mentally ill are human beings and should be treated as such.

The movie doesn't seem to me so much a horror film, as much as a commentary on how insane asylums were run and the inmates treated in those days. But I think the movie falls a bit short on that. I realize that, because of the times and the Code, they couldn't show all the true horrors that went on in the mental wards in those days, but the inmates in here aren't actually shown to be mistreated all that much, save for being locked in a cage or chained to a wall.

Still the film is watchable, and Karloff makes it so.

If you're watching a classic horror movie and you see the words 'produced by Val Lewton' sprawled across your screen, you know that you're in for a great movie! While Bedlam doesn't represent Lewton's best work, or even his best collaboration with the great Boris Karloff, it's still a great atmospheric horror film. The story takes place in an eighteenth century 'Looney bin' called "Bedlam", and stars Karloff as the apothecary general. Lunatic asylums make for great settings for horror movies, especially when they're set in the time period that this one is set in. Nowadays, hospitals are more geared towards helping the patients; but back then, they weren't; making the setting more horrifying and therefore riper for a horror movie. The plot sees a young woman who becomes concerned at the way the patients are being treated at Bedlam. After trying to get the asylum to reform their practices, the powers that be decide to have her committed in order to save themselves money and stop her revealing how badly the patients are treated.

As usual with Lewton, the film breathes a thick and foreboding atmosphere and this is the main star of the show. The atmosphere is complimented by a nice story which, although there's maybe slightly too much talking, plays out well and features a great ending that is seething with irony. Mark Robson isn't as great as the other directors that Lewton has worked with; Jacques Tourneur and Robert Wise, but he knows his stuff and the three films that he made with Lewton, while falling somewhat short to the others', are still nice horror movies. The Body Snatcher will remain the finest collaboration between Karloff and Lewton - but that film was exceptional and the fact that this one doesn't live up to it isn't a commentary on it's quality. Karloff himself puts in another awesome performance and his screen presence combines with his mannerisms to create an eerie performance from the great horror legend. This film comes with high recommendations from yours truly. I'm a big fan of Lewton, and after seeing a number of his films; I don't see how anyone couldn't be.

'Bedlam' stars Boris Karloff and was produced by Val "Cat People" Lewton so it's generally described as a horror movie, but it's really more of a melodrama with a few thrills. It was directed by Mark Robson who actually worked with Lewton more times than the more celebrated Jacques Tourneur. In my opinion Robson's collaborations with Lewton haven't received as much attention as they deserve. 'Bedlam' features one of Karloff's best performances. An interesting character, he is sadistic yet witty, both a writer and in charge of the infamous asylum Bedlam. Anna Lee, who previously co-starred with Karloff in 'The Man Who Changed His Mind', plays the protege of a Lord whom Karloff tries to ingratiate himself with. When she threatens his position he has her committed to Bedlam which he controls with an iron fist. Inside she eventually befriends many of the inmates which leads to an unforgettable climax. 'Bedlam' is by no means the best of the Val Lewton movies (its lack of success pretty much ended his career) but it's entertaining enough and is a must see for Karloff fans.

There aren't many films that feature the mentally ill in institutions. One of the most famous is One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. But that was mild compared to seeing how they existed in the 16th Century.

It wasn't too much better in the United States, and this created the push to Community Mental health instead of institutions. It was too easy in these facilities to abuse and neglect patients, and it was also too easy, as illustrated in the film, for families to quietly get rid of unwanted wives or barriers to wealth.

Boris Karloff is excellent in his role as the warden and the film does manage to keep from being too morose with attempts at humor, and what is probably a prettier picture of the institution that really existed.

Anna Lee, probably better known as Lila Quartermaine on "Port Charles" and "General Hospital," did a very good job as someone who was taken aback by the conditions at Bedlam and fought for reform to the point that she, herself, was committed. She then worked from within to defeat Karloff, and manged to endear herself to the residents to the point that the film had a really great ending.

As a child in the 1970s I always used to look forward to the Summer months when BBC 2 used to have horror double bills in the late evenings . These would usually feature the Universal Frakenstien and Dracula franchise along with some other movies like THEM , THE MUMMY and occasionally a Hammer horror . I do remember seeing a Boris Karloff movie called BEDLAM and thought that it only qualified as a horror movie because of Karloff and after seeing it again tonight it's obvious that it's not a horror film , more of a dark period drama

Taken on its own BEDLAM isn't a bad movie though it's by no means a great one either . The uneven quality probably is probably due to the star billing taking precedence over the story which is something of a pity . Yeah okay Karloff can exude menace but the story doesn't really pick up until we're introduced to the main plot of Nell being interned in the notorious lunatic asylum and this doesn't happen till half way through the movie . Until then we've got to put up with long talky scenes with characters speaking in rather irritating mid Atlantic accents . The rather dated feel surrounding mental health doesn't help either since the heroine describes the inmates as " Loonies " even though she doesn't mean any malice and I don't know if it's deliberate but someone seems to have confused sanity with intelligence . Does knowing the alphabet and being able to count mark you out as being sane ?

I couldn't help noticing a very interesting subtext when the main plot takes off and that's that the movie sides with pacifist quaker philosophy . In 1946 the Western World had united to help defeat that Hitler chappie and rightly or wrongly this could only have been achieved through the violence of war . Are the producers sticking up for pacifist ideals ? Probably not and it's open to interpretation but I think BEDLAM is analogy for the Soviet Union where people of all faiths were imprisoned in psychiatric hospitals . It should also be remembered that a year previously the Soviet Union and the West were brothers in arms united in their opposition to Hitler which may explain the somewhat confused moral message of the movie

"Bedlam" (RKO Radio, 1946), directed by Mark Robson and produced by Val Lewton, is an underrated gem that expertly combines factual material and horror elements.

In a story set in 18th century London at St. Mary's of Bethlehem Asylum (BEDLAM) for the insane, Boris Karloff stars as Master George Sims, the head warden of the asylum who specializes with his own techniques of sadistic therapy. Then comes Nell Bowen (Anna Lee), a nurse who comes the asylum only to learn of the cruel treatments of the inmates, and because she plans to expose these inadequate conditions, Sims, feeling she knows too much for her own good, and with the help of the committee board, has her declared insane confined within the walls of a hellish nightmare for which she is surrounded by screaming patients and the watching of waving hands churning in and out between the bars from the cells through dark corridors. At first she sits there motionless, trying to ignore what's happening around her, but Miss Bowen decides not give in to Sims' methods by going completely insane herself. Eventually this strong-willed woman tries to work along with the patients to improve conditions and their self esteem, with the hope that she will eventually see release. But when Sims learns of what she is trying to do, he comes up with some other plans to break her.

As with most previous Val Lewton's psychological horror films, "Bedlam" starts off slowly, and with the help of an intelligent and worthwhile script, the story then moves briskly until its harrowing climax. There are no real scenes of suffering presented on screen but the story suggests sufficient misery, which is what makes the Lewton films so different from other films of its day. Aside from Paramount's rarely seen 1935 production of "Private Worlds" starring Claudette Colbert, "Bedlam" predates the even more popular but then controversial drama about mental institutions, "The Snake Pit" (20th Century-Fox, 1948) which starred Olivia De Havilland, but until then, little has been dealt on screen with such controversial topics.

Although Karloff offers one of his best on screen menacing characterizations, with Anna Lee coming a close second in one of her finer movie roles up to that time, the supporting cast of not-too-familiar names, which consists of Billy House (Lord Mortimer); Richard Fraser (William Hannay); Jason Robards Sr. (Oliver Todd, an alcoholic sent to the institution to sober up); and Elizabeth Russell (a regular in several Val Lewton productions), should not go unnoticed. Veteran character TV actress Ellen Corby can also be seen briefly as one of the asylum patients known as The Queen of Antichokes!

Val Lewton, whose unique style of story telling and horror, is said to have made little impression with critics in the 1940s, but seeing these movies today, they are considered rediscovered masterpieces. Of the nine psychological thrillers Lewton produced at RKO, "The Body Snatcher" (1945), which also starred Karloff, is regarded the finest of them all. The occasionally underrated "Bedlam" not only became Karloff's third collaboration with Lewton, but the end of the line for them both in the RKO horror unit. As for Lewton, he moved on to produce films for other studios, but none recaptured his psychological mood and style. Thanks to frequent revivals on television and later video cassette distributions, the Lewton thrillers made from 1942 to 1946, can be seen, studied and appreciated by each new generation of horror movie enthusiasts.

On the plus side, from what I can observe, "Bedlam" appears accurate in every detail in sets, costumes and background. "Bedlam," which formerly played on cable's American Movie Classics for many years, can be seen occasionally on Turner Classic Movies, especially during the month of October in honor of Halloween, but it's worth seeing on all counts, especially during the cold, gloomy rainy afternoon or evening to set the mood of fear. What's even more harrowing is that since this movie is based on fact, it makes one wonder how many people have been sent to an nonreturnable horror who didn't need to be there? (***)

"Bedlam" isn't the strongest of Val Lewton's RKO pictures, but it's in good company. Karloff has one of his most diabolical roles in this film, and it's his performance, along with Anna Lee's, that makes this film worth watching.

The plot revolves around the Bedlam asylum. George Sims (Karloff) is the cruel asylum master, and Nell Bowen (Lee) finds the conditions deplorable, the latter desiring to bring reform. Unfortunately, Nell faces great opposition (and that's a big understatement!). A friendly Quaker, Hannay, is along for the ride to assist her in her plight.

The lighting and the mood give the film a great atmosphere, and the film is always great to look at. While I would still categorize "Bedlam" as a horror movie, it's a "light" horror movie. Don't expect tons of shocks or scares. It's more of a macabre look at a real-life historical setting.

This film isn't as psychologically deep as most of Lewton's other productions, but it still excels at being more than an average horror film. You can't help but sympathize with Nell Bowen (and she has some great scenes where she confronts her foes). And you can't help but loathe Karloff as he plots his deliciously fiendish plans.

Fans of Boris Karloff will definitely enjoy this movie, and Anna Lee's character is certainly enjoyable to watch. It's not the greatest horror film ever made, but it's still better than most.

(One major annoyance: The Quaker character, Hannay, speaks in somewhat Old English with "thee" and "thy" liberally sprinkled throughout his dialogue, but he apparently doesn't understand the rules of grammar. When using "thee" and "thou", "thou" is used when it's the subject of a sentence, and "thee" is used when it's the object. Unfortunately, he always uses the word "thee", even when it's the subject. This is extremely irritating to hear, and it's surprising, considering the high quality of literary elements in most of Lewton's pictures. I would have expected him to catch an error like this.)

The Apothecary General of BEDLAM finds his asylum a convenient place to immure his personal enemies.

This was the third of three RKO thrillers which Boris Karloff starred in for producer Val Lewton (the other two being ISLE OF THE DEAD & THE BODY SNATCHER, both 1945). Lewton had the knack of producing films full of atmosphere & menace on a very low budget. BEDLAM is no exception and Karloff gives an especially compelling performance. Gaunt & leering, calmly accepting death and torture as part of his grim business, he shows the monstrous depths to which brutish humanity is able to sink while yet retaining a veneer of civility. His behavior is the stuff of nightmares & his fate is thoroughly deserved.

Anna Lee is spirited in the role of a nobleman's protégée who gradually becomes a champion of fairer treatment for the inmates. Richard Fraser quietly underplays his part as a stern Quaker stonemason who attempts to rescue Miss Lee from Bedlam. Billy House as an obese lord & Ian Wolfe as a barrister confined to Bedlam both offer fine support.

Movie mavens will spot an unbilled Ellen Corby as one of the lunatics.

*****************************

Built as a priory in 1247 for the order of the Star of Bethlehem, the structure was first used as a hospital in 1330. Mental patients began arriving by 1403 and Henry VIII made it exclusively a lunatic asylum in 1547. At the time portrayed in the film, the Hospital of St. Mary of Bethlehem had been moved from Bishopsgate to Moorfields and the name had generally been corrupted to ‘Bedlam.' Great abuses did take place there during the 18th Century and members of refined society were allowed for a fee to view the inmates. Now located in Shirley, near Beckenham, it is known as the Bethlehem Royal Hospital and is England's leading facility for the treatment of the mentally ill.

The term ‘bedlam' has come to mean ‘a confused uproar.'

The paintings seen throughout the film are by William Hogarth (1697-1764), whose 1735 series A Rake's Progress included a scene set in Bedlam.

Bedlam is the ninth and last of the influential films producer Val Lewton made at RKO in the 1940s. Unlike most of those other films, Bedlam is less of a horror film than a historic drama. Oh there are horrors, to be sure. But they are horrors of the natural variety; the evil that men do to each other. No supernatural themes here, nor any of the trademark Lewton plot ambiguities. Perhaps this is why it is the Lewton film I rewatch the least, despite my affinity for Boris Karloff. Make no mistake, it's a strong film and an overlooked one, with an excellent performance by Karloff. But it doesn't have quite as much appeal to me as more multilayered Lewton films.

The story is about a young woman named Nell (Anna Lee) who is a "protégé" to wealthy Lord Mortimer (Billly House). Nell becomes disgusted by the way the inmates at Bedlam asylum are being treated and tries to bring about reforms to the system. This puts her at odds with Bedlam's cruel master George Sims (Boris Karloff). To silence her, Sims conspires with Lord Mortimer to have Nell committed to Bedlam.

Mark Robson's direction is great and the cast is wonderful. In addition Karloff, Anna Lee gives what is probably her finest performance as a leading lady. Billy House is pitch-perfect as Lord Mortimer. Solid script from Val Lewton. Lewton wrote the screenplay (under a pen name) but gave a writing credit to William Hogarth, an 18th century artist. Lewton was inspired to do the film by one of Hogarth's prints. Normally this would not be enough to give someone even a "suggested by" writing credit. But perhaps Lewton's experience with The Ghost Ship had made him more sensitive about being accused of stealing ideas. Several of Hogarth's prints are shown in the film.

Bedlam is a good film with some atmosphere and tension. Fans of Karloff or Lewton should check it out, of course. It's not my favorite film from either but it's good.

Lovely Anna Lee is ensnared in an insane asylum by cynical, cruel Boris Karloff, but this promising opening yields only a tepid payoff. Compare it to sterner stuff, like "Island of Lost Souls" or "The Black Cat." Fact is duller than fiction.

Master George Sims runs the famous mental asylum Bedlam for his own personal amusement – using the inmates for his own ends (such as entertaining powerful guests) even if it means his patients die as a result; although even when they do, it matters naught to Sims or his political peers. However the arrival of Nell Bowen with Lord Mortimer exposes Sims to his first critical voice as she tries to reform the asylum to actual treat the patients rather than abuse them. Although Sims can initially control her by pushing the right political buttons on Mortimer, she continues to strive for change and Sims is forced to take further steps to protect his cruel way of life.

A strange mix of well-written dialogue with some comic touches, a solid story, an interesting debate and chiller; however I think those that are disappointed in the film tend to put to much onus on the latter rather than the former qualities. I agree that the film really does fall flat when it comes to drawing the horror and tension out Nell's imprisonment but there was enough going on to cover for it. The early stages are quite light, with flowing dialogue and some moments of wit that are enjoyable and offer a bit of menace just below the surface where I'd hoped it would gradually be revealed as more. Sadly in the second half this menace didn't come out enough and it wasn't as chilling as I would have liked. Despite this it is still interesting and is a polished film that is very engaging.

The basic story is simple enough and the debate over Sim's methods versus the "Quaker lies" is a nice addition despite it always falling on the side of Nell. The dialogue contains too many "thee's" and "thou's" for its own good but it is still nicely poetic and flows well, adding to the classy feel of the film. With these words the cast mostly stand up well to it. Karloff has fun with the words and enjoys mixing intelligent wit with his usual brand of menace. Lee is good despite being a bit too liberal for her won good, although she gets off better than Fraser, who stumbles across nearly every word he has to say and comes across about as natural as PVC. Hodgson, House and others all give good support but mostly the film is best when Karloff and Lee are on screen together.

Overall not a chiller or horror by any means, although you can see why people expect it to be. However it is still a professional period piece that flows well with the dialogue and most of the actors to produce an enjoyable story that is worth seeing.

I had always been somewhat underwhelmed by this one - Lewton's artiest production yet and which turned out to be the last of his classic horror cycle at RKO - so I was a little surprised to see it bandied about, on the accompanying Audio Commentary as much as on the "Shadows In The Dark: The Val Lewton Legacy" documentary (paired with THE SEVENTH VICTIM [1943] in Warners' Box Set), as his best!

Mind you, I liked it better this time around than ever before but its inherent stateliness and over-literary script (doubtless brought about by Lewton's painstaking striving for authenticity in every department) still got in the way of my enjoying it for what it ostensibly was, a horror film (indeed, both Lewton and Boris Karloff referred to it as a historical picture)! I had quite forgotten just how witty Karloff is in the film: his character here is possibly the most despicable I've seen from him, and his performance is beautifully judged in every way (it's regrettable, therefore, that contemporary reviews tended to overlook his contribution while lavishing praise on his co-star Anna Lee - which has come to be considered one of the best-ever female roles in the horror genre {sic}). Elizabeth Russell appears in her fourth role for Lewton, and one which almost parodies her own image!; Ian Wolfe is wonderful as Lee's fellow inmate (one of the "People of the Pillar"), who lives in the illusion of having been a great lawyer.

The plot itself is very interesting: the inhuman treatment of the insane in 18th century London was certainly unusual for the time (and, like the grave-robbing theme of THE BODY SNATCHER [1945], critics anticipated that it would shock and repulse audiences; the film was banned in the U.K. for decades!) but it's quite tame when seen today - or even when compared with, say, Samuel Fuller's uncompromising SHOCK CORRIDOR (1963). Typical of Lewton, the intelligent script provides detailed (and, in this particular case, well-researched) characterizations to all the major characters: it just happens that I wasn't drawn to the stilted qualities of Richard Fraser's Quaker stonemason hero or burly Billy House's buffoonish incarnation of an English aristocrat - while the change in Lee's character itself from the latter's haughty protégé to a crusader of social reform (after just one brief visit to "Bedlam") is a little too abrupt to be truly convincing! Still, her battle-of-wills with Karloff is fascinating - culminating in two very different trial sequences: the first of which sees her sentenced to be shut inside the institution that Karloff himself rules by fear, and the second in which the latter is finally turned upon by the inmates and taken to be 'judged' and eventually 'executed' (surely the film's highlight, displaying shades of FREAKS [1932] and ISLAND OF LOST SOULS [1933] but also looks forward to the climax of FRANKENSTEIN AND THE MONSTER FROM HELL {1974; itself largely set in an asylum}).

Lewton and director Robson were aided immeasurably by the chiaroscuro cinematography of the legendary Nicholas Musuraca (one of the finest exponents of noir lighting): at its best in the shadowy interiors of "Bedlam" and particularly Richard Fraser's walk along a corridor of cells with the inmates' disembodied hands emerging from the bars - pleading, contemptuous or ready to assault - marking one of the defining (and indelible) images in the entire Lewton canon; much imitated, as duly noted in my review of THE BLACK PIT OF DR. M (1959). However, Robson's direction is generally stodgy and only comes alive in three sequences: the aforementioned 'walk' and Karloff's climactic 'trial' as well as the fete in honor of the Billy House character, where Karloff presents a play starring the asylum inmates - though this is short-lived as the first 'attraction' is a gilded boy who dies asphyxiated almost instantly!

Tom Weaver's Audio Commentary is exhaustive - and exhausting, given his typical rapid-fire delivery; apart from detailing behind-the-scenes anecdotes (my favorite, however, is one where, immediately upon arriving in Hollywood in 1939, Lee and her then-husband - director Robert Stevenson - were invited over by mogul David O. Selznick, who obliged by showing them a rough cut of his current production, GONE WITH THE WIND [1939]!!), he offers ample information on the background of the real "Bedlam" as well as the William Hogarth paintings which inspired the film to begin with.

The talking in this movie just seemed endless! Especially in the beginning of the movie, way too little is going on on screen. The movie just drags on and on and doesn't seem to be heading anywhere. Granted that the movie becomes good and interesting at the ending but its not enough to completely save this movie from being a small failure.

Don't be fooled people, this movie ain't no horror. Nothing scary is ever happening on screen and this movie is merely just a drama movie. I think however, because Karloff is in it, this movie has always been advertised as an horror movie.

Karloff himself is in absolute top form as British gentleman. His acting is superb! The rest of the characters however are quite underdeveloped and not really interesting enough to help to carry this movie.

The fans of Boris Karloff his acting will be delighted by this movie, everyone else, you better just skip this one!

6/10

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In 18th century London, Nell Bowen the protégé of Lord Mortimer is confined by the malicious asylum master, for voicing her concerns about the condition of the Bedlam asylum.

This is a pretty interesting horror film by RKO studios and producer Val Lewton. Director Mark Robson gives a reasonable job in the use of setting and characters, though it does have its flat spots and may lack suspense at times- but not enough to damage the film.

The performances are perfect with the ever-reliable Boris Karloff as the evil Master George Sims, which he brings such an evoking presence of macabre. Billy House as the pompous Lord Mortimer who is easily influence, fit's the role perfectly. Richard Fraser as the ever-helpful Hanny, who befriends Nell Bowen and tries to help her out on her quest. The best performance would have to be Anna Lee as Nell Bowen who brings a spirited and caring vibe to her character, she is disgusted in the way the upper class treat the mentally insane and tries to change that, especially when she learns a great deal about them when she is confined.

The story of the mental institution is quite interesting though at times the pace seems to be to padded- but when it focus on the manipulative Master Sims and the institution, especially when Nell is detained it has a disturbing aurora that draws you in, though nothing that shocking. The grim atmosphere, especially the asylum is really top-grade, the cinematography is alright- with great use of lighting and shadows and the music score is nothing spectacular- but just right.

3.5/5

Mark Robson directs Boris Karloff as Master George Sims, who runs the notorious St. Mary's of Bethlehem asylum(known as Bedlam). He is a glib but ruthless man who runs it like his own private serfdom, unconcerned with the patients in his care, and will kill anyone who tries to stop him in his power. One such person is Nell Bowen(played by Anna Lee) who is the consort of Lord Mortimor(played by Billy House). This offers her some protection, since the cowardly Sims wont risk angering anyone in power over him, but cleverly sets about undermining her credibility, to the point of having Nell committed to his asylum! Can she overcome this cruel ordeal? Last film in the Val Lewton horror series is quite good, with fine performances by all, especially Karloff, playing Sims the same way he would later voice the Grinch!(sneaky and deceptively charming) A bit slow at times, but leads to a satisfying end.

Bedlam is an odd and interesting film. Anna Lee is Nell, a witty young woman who functions as a sort of court jester for a noble. She is goaded into visiting Bedlam, an insane asylum that holds tours so the rich can laugh at the insane.

Nell affects the air of a cynical, frivolous wit, but she is disturbed by the treatment of the inmates at the hands of Boris Karloff's psychopathic George Sims.

Karloff and Lee are both terrific, and the atmosphere is beautifully created, both in the lush homes of the elite and in the chaotic Bedlam. While producer Val Lewton was known as a horror movie producer, his movies were always more complex than that, and this is a movie of psychological horror.

The story is compelling and the movie does a good job of showing the power of both hate and love to affect people.