Grip of the Strangler – 1958 | 78 mins | Thriller, Mystery | B&W

Plot Synopsis

A vintage Boris Karloff chiller, with an ambience straight out of the London Dungeon. James Rankin (Boris Karloff) is a philanthropist and novelist reopening the 20-year-old case of five grisly murders in 1880s London. A poor sailor, Styles (Michael Atkinson), was found guilty and hanged of being the serial killer known as the “Haymarket Strangler”. Rankin suspects the surgeon Dr. Tenant, who did the post-mortems, was the culprit and hopes to prove the executed mans innocence. Rankin has Style’s grave exhumed and discovers the murder weapon, a doctor’s missing scalpel, in the grave. However, when he comes into contact with the scalpel, Rankin becomes possessed with the brutal and guilt-ridden thoughts of the doctor. Suddenly, Rankin realises that he is Tenant, and that amnesia has erased the murders memory. Now overcome by the spirit of the doctor – he resumes his murderous spree amongst the inhabitants of London.