The Haunted Strangler (1958) (UK)

aka Grip of the Strangler/Stranglehold/The Judas Hole

⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

The Haymarket Strangler Edward Styles was executed for his crimes two decades ago. Writer and social activist James Rankin (the irreplaceable Boris Karloff) is working on a book about the notorious serial killer and the man he believes was wrongly convicted. Styles maintained his innocence all the way up to the gallows and Rankin believes he would have been acquitted if he had the means to get himself a credible defense. In proving this, he can show the importance of a solid defense for the accused and change up the justice system for the better. The proof was basically that a one-armed man was behind the murders and Styles was in the unfortunate position of being the nearest one-armed man around. So Rankin and his assistant Dr. Kenneth McCall are working to gather enough evidence to exonerate the dead man and find out who was the actual culprit. The likely suspect is Dr. Tennant, the medical examiner who the author thinks may have buried the murder weapon with Styles after he completed his autopsy and then vanished soon after being placed in a hospital. With folks finding all these admittedly outlandish claims hard to believe, Rankin exhumes the executed man’s body and gets his hand on the sought-after scalpel. But since this ain’t some Oscar-bait drama, Rankin gets his ass possessed by the killer and takes to committing the same crimes or is it a case of a mental rot that’s been laying dormant. Can’t it be both? This awfulness puts the social justice warrior in the awkward position of being some kind of monster and things get more complicated when the police inspector just doesn’t believe the respectable man is some king of deformed mad man. Karloff contorts his face and body to create the horrifying visage of the killer’s evil manipulation and it works unexpectedly well. There’s a house of ill repute called The Judas Hole, champagne spilled on cleavage, a dead woman named Martha Stewart, a romantic subplot that wastes time, some wonderful shadowy shots, benevolent grave robbing and a standout performance from Karloff and Jean Kent as a no-nonsense singer and the original damning witness at the “music hall” The Judas Hole. It drags somewhat but it’s still a fine thriller with a lovely supernatural twist that may not be all that supernatural.