Escapement (film)

Escapement

U.S. lobby card
Directed by Montgomery Tully
Produced by Richard Gordon
Based on novel Escapement by Charles Eric Maine
Starring Rod Cameron
Mary Murphy
Meredith Edwards
Production
company
Distributed by Anglo-Amalgamated (UK)
Release dates
 1958
Country United Kingdom
Language English

Escapement is a 1958 black and white British science fiction film, known in the U.S. as The Electronic Monster.[1] It was based on the novel Escapement by Charles Eric Maine (London, 1956). [2]

Production

Producer Richard Gordon later said there were major problems with the film's special effects. He also said that he had a dispute with Anglo Amalgamated, who did not want the movie to get an X Certificate in England whereas Gordon wanted more horror for the US.[3]

Plot

Inquiring into the mysterious death of a Hollywood star, insurance investigator Jeff Keenan uncovers an exclusive psychiatric clinic on the French Riviera. Here, patients who want to escape the stresses of life are hypnotized, then laid out in morgue like drawers and left to dream for several weeks. It turns out that Dr. Zakon, the clinic's ex-Nazi owner, is using a "dream machine" to alter the sleepers dreams, and to impose his will on theirs.

Cast

Critical reception

Leonard Maltin called it a "blah sci-fi programmer" ; [4] while TV Guide noted, "an intriguing feature in that it was among the first to examine the possibilities of psychological manipulation and brainwashing." [5]

References

  1. ↑ "The-Electronic-Monster - Trailer - Cast - Showtimes - NYTimes.com". nytimes.com.
  2. ↑ "The Electronic Monster (1960) - Screenplay Info - TCM.com". Turner Classic Movies.
  3. ↑ Tom Weaver, The Horror Hits of Richard Gordon, Bear Manor Media 2011 p 19
  4. ↑ "The Electronic Monster (1960) - Overview - TCM.com". Turner Classic Movies.
  5. ↑ "The Electronic Monster". TVGuide.com.

External links