Jordon Palumbo The Brighton Strangler does not set out to achieve anything in arduous storytelling, but rather is a cheeky tale that lives in Golden Age "B" movie heaven. Reginald Parker (John Loder) is the lead stage actor in a play called The Brighton Strangler. He has performed the play hundreds of times and has decided he wants to move on because he's played the "Strangler" character for so long. After his final show as the killer, a German blitz bombs the theater almost killing Parker. He is left with a head wound that bungles his mind, leading him to believe he actually is Edward Grey, or The Brighton Strangler. He is then doomed to "act" out his play with innocent people.While the concept is an amusing one and the imagery has some fantastic moments of long stark shadows and hands feeling the rope of a noose, John Loder's performance is just about the most lackluster acting I have ever seen. Everything about him is wooden: his expressions, his tone, and even his posture! It does, however, add to the fun of it all because he looks so silly doing it.Throughout the film there is not really an antagonist opposite of Parker. There is also no suspense drawn from other characters because each victim doesn't figure out what is happening. Parker just tells them what he is going to do. The only person who figures out that something is wrong and then acts upon it doesn't do so until about 10 minutes before the end, probably even less. There is no chase or tension throughout story.While very flawed, The Brighton Strangler is a good fun film that does not try to go beyond its identity. It's a quick easy watch at only 67 minutes. Check it out if you are a fan of old-fashioned pulpy thrillers.Also June Duprez's eyes on the poster are hilarious.

Spikeopath During WW II as one of the Luftwafte air raids hits London, Reginald Parker, a successful actor, is knocked out and heavily concussed. Upon awaking he believes himself to be Edward Grey, the notorious Brighton Strangler he has been portraying on the stage!Clocking in at just 67 minutes, The Brighton Strangler just about has enough time to get in and do it's job excellently. Something of an under seen gem, it's a film that has enough creepy menace about it to reward the black and white thriller fan. Boasting excellent sets, some very neat camera work from director Max Nosseck and a fabulous lead performance from John Loder, I personally feel that it deserves to be seen by more people. Typically it's a picture that rarely gets aired on British TV, and when it does it's sadly tucked away on BBC 2 at some ungodly hour in the AM. Until film's like this get decent exposure from our TV schedulers then they are going to remain criminally under seen. So keep your eyes out for this one, the formula may now be seen as old hat, but transport yourself back to 1945, out in the London smog and be wary of that hatted man coming towards you.........8/10

ccthemovieman-1 The was a British film portraying a stage actor who is hit on the head during a bombing in World War II raid on London and then acts the "strangler" in the play he's in, forgetting that he's just an actor. It's an interesting premise. Most of the plot was pretty obvious but there was a twist or two thrown in which kept my attention.However, to be honest, after about 40 minutes my mind started to wander, as the movie just plodded along. A story about a guy with "multiple personalities," so to speak, someone who can't distinguish anymore between fact and fiction, and winds up thinking he's "the Brighton Strangler" should have been a lot more interesting than it was. At 67 total minutes, there is no excuse for this to be a boring movie.John Loder is good in the lead as "Reginald Parker/Edward Gray," but the story doesn't live up to his performance. It just sags, big-time, in that middle section. There are major plot holes in here, too. The guy plays a "famous" actor yet no one recognizes him. I bet if someone re-made this story, it could a chilling one.

lorenellroy In 1947 Ronald Colman won an Oscar for Best Actor by portraying an actor who becomes obsessed with the role he is playing .This was Othello ,in Shakespeare's play of the same name .The obsession turns into violence and insanity .It was an A movie production featuring the acclaimed Colman and with the prestigious A list director George Cukor behind the camera . The Brighton Strangler was made 2 years earlier and deals essentially with the same theme but has more modest ambitions .It aims merely to be a neat little chiller and it achieves this ambition with some distinction .John Loder plays an actor in the West End of London during the German blitz on the city in World War 2 .He is playing a strangler in a long running play ;when the theatre is levelled by a German bomb he is rendered unconscious but survives .On waking he is an amnesiac and begins wandering the London streets in a dazed condition .He finds himself at Victoria railway station where he overhears a chance remark from a stranger that is an exact duplicate of one from the play .Convinved that he is really a strangler he boards a train for the seaside resort of Brighton where he begins to re-enact his stage role by embarking on a string of strangulation murders ,his steps dogged by the police. Loder is good and Max Nosseck directs with due skill aided by a good script. The supporting cast is capable and the movie will pass an hour or so with some pleasure for the viewer . Its not a major work but is a good study of dual personality along Jekyll and Hyde lines