Creepy Movies To Watch At Halloween: Gaslight (1944)!

All this week I will be reviewing (well, trying to review!) some great (not exactly horror) movies to watch at Halloween. The first movie in this series is Gaslight (1944). 

Whoever painted these faces really needs to get their eyes checked!

Gaslight (or Murder In Thornton Square) tells the story of Paula Alquist, a young woman who moves into the house her aunt was murdered in ten years beforehand with her husband to begin a new life. However, she begins to hear strange noises in the night and the gaslights keep darkening. She soon begins to go insane...(over use of elipses, I know!)

The acting in this movie is simply superb, with Ingrid Bergman's wonderful interpretation of a woman plummeting into the pits of insanity earning her an Oscar, and Angela Lansbury's debut turn as a sly, immature housemaid getting her her first nomination. But who really stands out for me is the ever-consistent Mr. Joseph Cotten.

I mean, seriously, is this man ever not brilliant? He's brilliant in Shadow of a Doubt, he's brilliant in Citizen Kane (so brilliant that I didn't even realise Uncle Charlie and Jedediah Leland were the same person!), and he's brilliant in this. The man is just consistently brilliant! (I've used the word brilliant so much that it doesn't mean anything anymore...but that's the best word to describe Joseph Cotten!)

The set is cleverly cluttered with bric-a-brac and bits-and-bobs to symbolise Paula's claustrophobia and need to escape. It's extremely effective-I started to feel claustrophobic just watching it! I actually started to feel myself go insane!

This movie is perfect for anyone who is terrified at the thought of sitting through a horror movie...or for anyone who is trying to get a friend or family member to sit through a creepy movie this Halloween. Simply tell them it's a film noir!