When I was a kid, my parents had several cassette tapes of episodes of old radio shows like Suspense, Dimension X, Escape, Lights Out, and Inner Sanctum. Some of my favorite childhood memories involve sitting in the backseat on long car trips, speeding through the dark and listening to “Three Skeleton Key” or “Sorry, Wrong Number.”1 When I saw that one of the thousand most-cited works on They Shoot Pictures, Don’t They?’s separate film noir list was a feature-length Inner Sanctum movie, I knew I had to watch it.
It is not, alas, as good as a great Inner Sanctum episode, and I must downgrade it for not featuring the series’ iconic creaking door. It’s also a tad under-stuffed, even at a mere 62 minutes: this was screenwriter Jerome T. Gollard’s only movie, and you can see him working out ways to fill the time and letting his radio comedy experience caulk most of the gaps. And while director Lew Landers and cinematographer Allen G. Siegler put together a few good shots, the movie doesn’t have a strong, coherent sense of the space it’s operating in, and the story needs that. The location here is key, and it’s under-explored.
What the movie does have is a strong hook, and it knows how to dig that hook in to create situations that feel genuinely dangerous and unsettling.
The frame story features Fritz Leiber—father of the famous SFF author of the same name—giving a warning to an amiable-but-hard young woman on a train. Leiber’s Dr. Valonius has a time-worn face, with deep-set eyes that look like two burning stars; it would be more of a surprise if he weren’t psychic. His looks are all the film needs to sell that he’s the real deal, so if she won’t listen, I will.
Dr. Valonius’s tale stars Harold Dunlap (Charles Russell), who tries to jilt his venal fiancée by slipping away from her at a train station. She catches him in the act, they struggle on the platform—and her own nail file is forced straight through her heart. It’s an accident, but Harold isn’t inclined to try to explain it. Within seconds, he’s deposited her body on a departing train. Within minutes, he’s grabbing a crowbar to bash out the brains of the boy who saw him.
It’s a startling escalation, but it’s not, somehow, as ruthlessly, uncannily disconcerting as where the plot goes from there. The movie becomes a cat-and-mouse game between Harold and the boy, Mike (Dale Belding). Mike escapes the station unharmed and unaware of how close he came to having his propeller hat beaten into his skull, and the shadows were so thick that he didn’t get a clear look at Harold’s face anyway. He saw a man with blood on his sleeve putting a “bundle” onto the back of a train, that’s all. By the time he puts the pieces together, Harold will be long gone.
That’s his plan, anyway. But a bad storm and washed-out roads strand him in the same boardinghouse where Mike lives, and news about the murder is trickling out piece by piece. Harold’s safety is receding faster than the floodwaters. Unless, of course, he can make sure his young witness—who’s so prone to wandering off anyway—has an accident.
What Inner Sanctum nails is the peculiar tension that comes from a violation of an implicit social contract, especially when it’s violated with a smile. Violence is alarming; coercion is sinister. It sets off different alarm bells, and Inner Sanctum gives us bells that ring at a darkly memorable pitch. When Harold is sent to find Mike—who’s run off in the night out of sheer exuberance—and he starts to lead him to the flooded river instead of back home, I tense up. When he sits with him on the stoop and urges him to run off again—all under the guise of advice about how to calm down his agitated, worried mother—I tense up again. It’s would-be murder, but it’s also a man calmly misleading and manipulating a child, and stories seldom explore that kind of horror outside of abuse. The tactic keeps its emotional impact even in a different, more bearable context, and these scenes are memorably creepy.
It would be interesting to know if the parallels were deliberate or not, because the film does build off them. The boardinghouse landlady tells Harold to spend the night in Mike’s room—with its single bed—without running it by Mike or his mother; they eventually bring in a cot, so young Mike sleeps right next to the man who wants him dead, this stranger no one met before that night. There’s a sofa downstairs, for fuck’s sake! But the adult must be accommodated at the cost of the child’s privacy and safety. Then, too, when Mike needs to tell his mother what he saw, he’s afraid to talk about what he’s seen—or how he was left bound and gagged—because she might hit him. He was out breaking the rules when he saw Harold with that “bundle,” after all. And his mother liked Harold and scolded an eventually wary Mike for not wanting to spend time with him, so if there weren’t other witnesses by this point, would she even believe him?
The surprisingly realistic darkness of the Mike plotline is why it doesn’t work to build a doomed romance between Harold and Jean (Mary Beth Hughes), the glamorous, streetwise young woman he meets at the boarding house. (It also doesn’t work because he hits her and says, “You’re very pretty when your lips aren’t moving.” Spoiled for choice on reasons this doesn’t work, frankly.) The ending feels like a relic of some earlier draft where Harold was a decent guy who impulsively covered up an accidental death and got in over his head, but the Harold we’ve been following is an appalling guy who impulsively covered up an accidental death and has been running around ever since trying to murder a child to keep that cover-up going. Jean knew that child murder was wrong and horrific when she discovered the bound and gagged Mike in Harold’s closet, but when Harold makes his way back to that porch swing to wait for the cops, she’s willing to let bygones be bygones and wistfully speculate on the life they could have had together.
There is, in short, a lot here that doesn’t work. Since this movie is kicking off my personal Noirvember, it’s unfortunate that the noir parts are the parts that work the least well: the psychological horror is much more effective. But Fritz Leiber, Sr., the effective menace of Harold vs. Mike, and a strong third-act set piece where many of the characters converge on a darkened park, tightening around and interacting with Harold’s pursuit of an escaped Mike, all mean that I’m not sorry I watched it. And now I want to go listen to some old Inner Sanctum episodes again.
Inner Sanctum is streaming on Tubi and Plex.
About the writer
Lauren James
Lauren James is a writer who wears many different hats (and pen names). She lives in Connecticut with her wife and two cats.
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Anthologized
A little slice of American folklore that feels like it's been here all along.
Streaming Shuffle
You make your royal bed, and you lie in it.
Anthologized
Alone in vast space and timeless infinity: one man in a ghost town.
Streaming Shuffle
A beautiful slice-of-life film that helped make a career.
Department of
Conversation
What did we watch?
Justified, Season Three, Episode Nine, “Loose Ends”
This is the point in the season where I’m out of things to say and just enjoying the beauty. I love listening to these people talk, but the consequences aren’t here and the action has already been set in motion. The one thing that really draws my attention is Ava pulling off protection for a lost girl by tricking everyone (including the audience) into thinking she was cynically giving her up; yet another step to turn her into Ma Bennet and the most Leonardian moment in an episode that has the deaths and betrayals of Squirrel and Tanner.
That said, I enjoy that Quarles is starting to not have any fun here; you see Neil McDonough portray his increasing boredom and disappointment as he’s expected to do things he doesn’t wanna do. The whole reason he got into this was to not have to do things he didn’t wanna!
Biggest Laugh:“Close that door behind you.” /“This isn’t good.” / “No, I’ll be gentle.”
Biggest Non-Art Laugh: “‘I don’t know’. That’s an acceptable answer if I ask you why the sun come up every morning, or why God gave man dominion over all the animals.”
Top Ownage: Ava killing Del Boy.
Delroy. This isn’t Only Fools and Horses.
The Lowdown, “Dinosaur Memories” and “Short on Cowboys”
Fine, “Dinosaur Memories” was on Monday, but I forgot to write it up on Tuesday.
There’s absolutely a plot here, and “Short on Cowboys” even has a particularly (literal) killer development in it–shows should almost never let a crime go as planned, and this one knows that–but the texture is that of a hangout show, even if it’s one where Lee gets force-fed paddlefish eggs. I like the eccentric cast of the characters the show has assembled, I like the dusty, scruffy vibe, and I like “Sunshine Getaway,” which plays in a key scene. Losing all those Jim Thompson first editions hurts, though. It’s a little hilarious how stylized the scene gets when they burn, like it wants to reassure you that this is no Hateful Eight guitar smash: no noir classics were harmed in the making of the televisual proceedings.
The best part of “Short on Cowboys,” though, is Allen, our murderous “respectable” neo-Nazi in the fleece vest who turns out to also be, in addition to all those things, a recovering alcoholic and addict who sincerely engages with the AA/NA structure and cares about his sobriety and what he sees as his personal failings … which may have more to do with mistakes in carrying out his crimes than with the crimes themselves. It’s a somewhat Leonardian character touch, and it works well. It technically has nothing to do with what happens at the end of the episode, but technicality’s got nothin’ to do with it: developing him in an unexpected direction makes it feel right when something else unexpected happens with him, related or not.
Late Night with the Devil – treated myself to a double-bill of stuff I found on free UK streaming. I remembered this one having a fair amount of hype when it came out, I’d forgotten about the AI controversy. I thought it was a reasonably good time but like a lot of modern horror films it kinda lost me when it unleashed the full FX spectacle at the end – I’m not sure if this is just because digital FX aren’t as much fun as physical but I enjoy the full-on mad ending so much more in older horror films than I do now. The build-up was mostly pretty effective though and the 70s talk-show setting made for an appealing and unusual vibe. The performances of the eccentric guests (and also Dastmalchian as host) are strong. But in the end it left me slightly disappointed even before I looked it up and was reminded of the AI stuff.
Escape Room – this was the kind of “convoluted thriller that knows it’s no masterpiece and is just shooting for popcorn entertainment” vibe I was really looking for last night, and it’s easier to forgive the flaws in something like this. Basically it plays out like a less endlessly grim take on Saw, which I can get on board with – the setup here is very silly but there is genuine tension in the characters trying to get through the ridiculous scenarios they find themselves trapped within. It doesn’t really find a way to make the ending as interesting or fun as the rest of the action but then most of the Saw films have that problem too. I’ll probably watch the sequel.
I’m glad to have not known about the AI in Late Night with the Devil before I saw it (and I didn’t spot it during the film, so I only found out about it afterwards). I like the build-up so much, but I agree that the ending is disappointing.
Very fond of Escape Room. I love death games and contrived high-stakes situations that characters have to engage with genuinely, revealing things about themselves in the process, and this worked way better for me on that front than Saw, because it felt like the situations had time to develop and test something besides “capacity to endure pain.” (Also, fine, I’ll take colorful, playful set design over endless shit-stained grime. I’m weak. I like gritty, but Saw sets mostly make me want to gag.) I like the sequel less, but I still like it, and if they make a third one, I’ll probably watch that and like it too.
I’ve only seen a few Saws and definitely agree on the aesthetic, although I thought the second one at least found a clever enough way to end that I’d put it in the upper echelon of Convoluted Death Game Movies (which is otherwise mostly just Final Destinations if I’m honest!)
What’s the AI stuff in Late Night with the Devil? I must have missed that.
I watched Escape Room, didn’t remember I watched it and watched it again several years later. It’s pretty good.
All of the commercial break graphics were AI generated apparently. It’s not the most egregious use of the technology but also I can see why there was a backlash against it as does feel important to call these things out before they’re absolutely everywhere.
Escape Room does seem like that kind of movie, haha.
Thank you. That explains it. I thought maybe Dastmalchian was actually AI, which would explain his general strangeness.
Escape Room looks pretty good. I’m excited to see it.
Not heard of Escape Room – watchlisted.
I wonder if the digital just looks fake no matter what or we’re more trained, as we’ve been taking this in for three decades or so, to look out for it among the other effects now.
A full-on insane 1980s finale – Society, Re-Animator etc. – just feels like it was made with a level of love and enthusiasm that it’s hard to match in a modern CGI-fest I think. Digital effects can look incredible and there are plenty of CGI-heavy movies that I love but when they’re specifically shooting for a big, messy horror finale then it just isn’t quite the same.
Sucks as physical is now more expensive than CGI and the studios all think this should be normal anyway. The Substance is mostly physical and the ending FEELS like the big insane 80’s finales.
Yes! The Substance absolutely pulls off the crazy finale and it’s wonderful.
On the climax: rightly or wrongly, CGI just looks so effortless compared to old school effects. If you can put anything on the screen, it’s harder to get excited about the specifics.
Yeah, older movies can still deliver an extra thrill via the sheer “I do not understand HOW they did that!” factor.
Rear Window – One of those movies that, on the occasions it’s streaming, I figure I better watch it while I can. One of those movies I can watch over and over. Technically brilliant, but that wouldn’t matter if not for the stories, the acting, the people. My favorite film from my favorite director (or at least one of my top three), though oddly not quite my favorite. This time around I thought about how the NYC depicted here is in many ways gone and yet also still with us, and how absolutely wonderful Grace Kelly is.
The Practice, “Happily Ever After” – The season three finale tries to tie together huge chunks of the season, and thsi gets overstuffed and a bit over the top. Lindsey is stabbed by someone dressed as a nun. It’s a nun angry at her for getting the nun-killer let go! No, it’s Judge Kittelson, who has it in for Lindsey! No, it’s the nun-killer! No, it’s Joey Heric! No, it’s really…George Vogelman? Along the way, there is a case Bobby insists on handling despite his girlfriend being so badly hurt, Jimmy ruining his fling with Judge Kittelson, and Judge Hiller decided to look the other way on a constitutional ruling because too many defendants are walking. Oh, and Bobby proposes to Lindsey. All around, an overwrought if reasonably well assembled and acting season finale, but if you want to pick a “jump the shark” moment, revealing out of the blue that the poor put upon George is actually a cold blooded psychopath might do. Robert Prosky returns as Bobby’s priest, and John LaRoquette has a cameo as Joey.
Frasier, “Taking Liberties” – Frasier snags the incredibly competent and thoughtful butler of a recently deceased socialite, even as Niles’s patience with being at Mel’s mercy runs out. There really isn’t much to this other than Niles finding his backbone, and some nice moments between the butler and Daphne (both working class Brits). And then he leaves because we’re not adding another cast member. Which is a pity since Victor Garber (nominated for an Emmy) is very good as usual. But this is two episodes in a row that introduce a new, potentially interesting character who we never see again.
Well, now I do need to know what your favorite Hitchcock is. (This will probably have come up before, and I should remember.)
Rear Window is glorious and beautifully constructed. My favorite parts of it are a tie between Grace Kelly’s wardrobe–has anyone ever looked more beautiful?–and that incredible shot of the glowing cherry end of Raymond Burr’s cigarette, flaring up in the dark.
Oops. I was unclear. Definitely my favorite Hitchcock, just not my favorite movie altogether. (Leaving aside things like Star Trek II that are totally favorites but not exactly great cinema, I would probably put The Apartment at the top my all time list.)
And yes, that effect to show what an old school flashbulb was like was, er, the cherry on top of everything.
I love how Raymond Burr, friendly enough to play reporters in Godzilla or anchor a TV show, is lit and framed in that scene. He looks like a monster.
It’s really a movie that makes the most of how physically imposing he can be, too. (Pitfall is excellent at that too.) He was a big, solid guy, which is endearing and comforting when he’s friendly but terrifying when he’s in this mode. You try to go up against Raymond Burr, and you’re toast!
Garber should’ve totally stayed on though he may have been about to start Alias, I’m not sure of the timing. And I think this episode or last has the great gag of Niles intending to embarrass himself in front of Mel’s friends and inadvertently getting admiration (“You’re a good friend, Niles!”)
It was the previous episode with Niles’s unsuccessful effort to be a schmuck. I don’t think there was a lot of comic energy in this short arc, but they managed to find whatever was there and then ended it at the right moment. (We never see Mel again after this.)
SATURDAY
Live music – Dia de los Deftones 2025
Good, varied set of openers. Regulo Caro has great stage presence and feel different from other norteño bands, though I like their covers (“Lobo Hombre en París”, “La Chona”) better than their originals. Clipse started very strong, though I drifted because I didn’t know their songs, was watching Game 7 of the World Series on a guy’s phone next to me, and they stopped playing three times due to unspecified crowd issues, and didn’t come back from the third one at all.
As for the main event: Beautiful concert. Deftones played most of the new album, with many songs making their live debuts (shoutout to the couple that got engaged during “i think about you all the time”). Great selection of classics, lots of energy. Not a dry eye in the house during “Sextape”. I cried through all of “infinite source”. Saw a huge mosh pit open right in front of me at “Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)”. Headbanged my soul out at “Rocket Skates”, “Hole in the Earth”, “milk of the madonna”, etc. Just awesome, worth waiting six years to see them again.
Fun crowd too, very diverse and colorful bunch. Lots of young people, to my surprise. Lots of young couples and teens with their parents. Makes me glad to see this become an inter-generational event, and it seems to be here to stay.
I also left an ofrenda and pictures of loved ones at the Day of the Dead altar. Got emotional there, and I wasn’t the only one. Los extraño.
I have no knowledge of old-time radio stuff at all but Inner Sanctum sounds pretty fun, and this film spin-off sounds… fairly interesting at least? I could get behind a full series of articles covering the whole thing, it’s only 500 or so episodes, how long could it possibly take?
The work of a moment!
Year of the Month update!
This November, you can write about any of these movies, albums, books, et al from 2018!
Nov. 7th: Gillian Nelson: A Wrinkle in Time
Nov. 9th: Cori Domschot: Book Club
Nov. 10th: Bridgett Taylor: Aquaman
Nov. 12th: Ben Hohenstatt: Bark Your Head Off, Dog
Nov. 14th: Gillian Nelson: Christopher Robin/Mary Poppins Returns
Nov. 21st: Gillian Nelson: Ralph Breaks the Internet
Nov. 28th: Gillian Nelson: Legend of the Three Caballeros
And in December, we’ll be taking pitches on anything from 1948, like these movies, albums, and books.
Dec. 20th: Lauren James: The Lottery
Wait, you’re telling me this is a movie based on an anthology series…that barely has enough story to fill 60 minutes…that already has a framing device…and it’s not an anthology movie? That has to be some kind of screenwriting malpractice.
Right? Now, Amicus would have done this right.