Gaslight
HORROR-THON 2023 • IT’S ALL IN YOUR HEAD
7/10
DIRECTOR: George Cukor
STARRING: Charles Boyer, Ingrid Bergman, Joseph Cotten
RELEASED: 1944
RUNTIME: 1 hour, 54 minutes
WATCH ON: Plex, Amazon, Apple TV, Fandango at Home
SCARE LEVEL: Low, but the dread builds
TRUSTING YOUR HUSBAND: Verify everything
Every night, the gas lamps in the house dim for no reason. Paula hears footsteps in the sealed-off attic. Her husband calmly tells her none of it is happening. This is the movie that gave “gaslighting” its name, and it’s every bit as infuriating as that suggests.
Paula’s aunt, a famous opera singer, was murdered in her London townhouse when Paula was a girl. Years later, Paula marries the charming Gregory Anton after a whirlwind romance in Italy. He talks her into moving back into her aunt’s house.
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Almost at once, Gregory starts chipping away at her sense of reality. Things go missing and turn up in her bag. He keeps her inside and away from visitors. He says she’s forgetful, nervous and unwell, and she starts to believe him.
Meanwhile a Scotland Yard detective who remembers the old murder starts asking questions about the house, and about Gregory.
MY HUMBLE OPINION
I know this is a classic. Ingrid Bergman won an Oscar for it, and a 17-year-old Angela Lansbury steals scenes as the snippy maid in her first film role. But it has a lot of flaws. It’s slow, Paula is passive for most of it, and you figure out what Gregory is up to long before anyone in the movie does.
The plot itself is still very interesting. The tension comes from watching a person’s confidence get dismantled one small lie at a time. That’s scarier than any monster, and it’s a lot more recognizable.
Also, the bustles, the high lace collars, and the velvet are gorgeous. Paula is miserable, but she’s miserable in excellent tailoring at least.
I’d tell you what I really think of this movie, but you’d probably just convince me I didn’t mean it.
FUN FACT FOR YOUR NEXT DINNER PARTY
George Cukor suggested that Ingrid Bergman visit a mental hospital to study and learn about nervous breakdowns. She did and ended up focusing one woman in particular, whose habits and physical quirks became part of her character.