Thriller

Drama

The Man Who Haunted Himself

Excalibur Films

United Kingdom

English

Roger Moore

Anton Rodgers

Olga Georges-Picot

Freddie Jones

Hugh Mackenzie

Kevork Malikyan

Thorley Walters

Ruth Trouncer

Hildegard Neil

John Welsh

Edward Chapman

Laurence Hardy

Charles Lloyd Pack

Gerald Sim

Aubrey Richards

Anthony Nicholls

John Carson

John Dawson

Alastair Mackenzie

James Payne

Basil Dearden

Michael J. Lewis

Tony Spratling

Michael Relph

Teddy Darvas

Jack Rix

Bryan Forbes

G. B. Walker

Albert Witherick

Barbara Ritchie

George Blackler

John Webber

Beatrice Dawson

Anthony Armstrong

The Pelham Paranoia.

With its 1970s chic cheese and swagger and Roger Moore's excellent performance, The Man Who Haunted Himself has a considerable cult fan base. Directed by British legend Basil Dearden, plot finds Moore as Harold Pelham, who after being involved in a serious car accident, comes around from the trauma to find that his life is being turned upside down. It seems that somebody is impersonating him, people he knows swear he was in places he hasn't been, that he has been making decisions at work that he knows nothing about, and that he has a sexy mistress that threatens to destroy his marriage. Is he going mad? A victim of a collective practical joke? Or is there really something more sinister going on?

Don't be a slave to convention!

So yeah! A cult gem waiting to be rediscovered is The Man Who Haunted Himself, it has a plot that positively bristles with intrigue. As the doppleganger motif is tightly wound by Dearden, who smartly sticks to understated scene constructions as opposed to supernatural excess, there's a realistic and human feel to the story. The makers are not going for jolt shocks, but taking a considered approach that has the pertinent mystery elements lurking in the background, waiting for their chance to reveal themselves for the utterly thrilling finale. A finale that is bold and special, obvious but not, and definitely tinged with cunning ambiguity.

With Moore drawing on talent from his acting pool that many thought he didn't have (two different characterisations smartly realised here), and Dearden pulling the technical strings (love those off-kilter angles and multi mirrored images), this is a film that has surprises in store all across the board. 8/10

Blu-ray Trailer

The Man Who Haunted Himself (1970) Original Trailer [FHD]

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The Man Who Haunted Himself

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Cast

Roger Moore

Anton Rodgers

Olga Georges-Picot

Freddie Jones

Hugh Mackenzie

Kevork Malikyan

Thorley Walters

Ruth Trouncer

Hildegard Neil

John Welsh

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