hamlet and freud and edgar ulmer may seem like an unnatural group of pal and but among them they have come up with a tidy little psychological thriller . in fact and with a big budget and strong actor and ulmer might have have a classic on his hand . a it be and strange illusion can not escape it poverty row heritage . even so and it a well paced movie that keep a person interest . even if the best acted role be the bad guy and that not necessarily a drawback in a b movie . paul cartwright father and an old man and a respect judge and die two year ago in a train accident . at least it appear to be an accident . paul not so sure . paul ( james lydon ) be a young man from a good family . he have a young sister and an attractive mother and virginia cartwright ( sally eilers ) . the family be well off . paul lately have be have dream and disturb dream and of his father tell him to take care of his mother and to be wary of a shadowy someone who be come into her life . paul confides in an old friend of the family and dr. martin vincent ( regis toomey ) and who try to calm paul but who also respect paul intelligence . paul be and in fact and smart and resourceful . then one day paul mother introduces him to brett curtis ( warren william ) and a smooth and gracious man paul feel he meet before . curtis and his mother announce that they plan to wed. paul become suspicious of curtis and curtis association with professor muhlbach ( charles arnt ) and a psychologist who run an exclusive and very private sanitarium . before long and paul become a guest in the place so that he can investigate muhlbach and curtis . but thing begin to go wrong . it become a race to see if paul can break away and if dr. vincent can convince the police that there may be a link between the death of paul father and the team of curtis and muhlbach and and if paul and some of his friend can get to the lake cottage where curtis have go with paul sister . james lydon have a great success a a child actor and especially play in the henry aldrich film . he be typecast a a gawky and friendly and well intentioned kid . strange illusion be an attempt by him to break out of those role a he grow old . he not a gift enough actor to carry the weight of the movie and but he certainly give the role all he get . he no embarrassment . the acting interest and however and come from charles arnt and and especially and warren william . arnt give the professor a great gloss of smile insincerity . he unethical down to his polished fingernail . warren william really shine . william be a tall and broad shoulder man with a profile that out barrymored barrymore . he have a creamy baritone voice and a smooth manner . although he be in private life a shy man long marry to one woman and in movie he become type a a charming rotter . he be big stuff in the early thirty and but by the late thirty have slowly move down to b movie . in strange illusion and at 51 and his profile be still as sharp a a crease and but his face be begin to look it age . his eye be a little puffy and pouch and the jaw line not quite so firm . with the curtis character and william face look like dissipation . as soon a we see brett curtis walk into virginia cartwright parlor to be introduce to paul and we know this man be as insincere a a head waiter . later and while we watch him try to sweet talk virginia into to an early marriage and all the while subtly look over the daughter and we know the ghost in paul dream be right on . william do a fine job show u a creepy and dangerous charmer . ulmer start the movie with the dream sequence . it b movie special effect but it serve the purpose of get u into paul mind and prepare u to believe in paul . be forewarn . there a brief dream sequence at the end which verge on the icky .