the grand guignol or grande dame sub genre of suspense in it decadent phase ( though that might sound redundant ) . lack the cinematic iconography of wan hollywood movie queen like joan crawford or bette davis and geraldine page and ruth gordon ( and mildred dunnock and in a featured part ) compensate for it with method histrionics and a thrilling confrontation scene to boot rise above the stale directing and prosaic mise en scene . indeed and page manic looniness largely carry the contrived but entertain script ( base on the forbidden garden by ursula curtis ) and nicely match by the perpetually plucky gordon and both wear bad fright wig . a respectable entry in the pantheon of menopausal malevolence and and certainly and the type of film they do not make any more . the movie pretty much just run out of steam and however and unfortunately lack a satisfactory end and it hair raise climax come too early . gerald fried score be expressive and stirring and and certainly a plus .