Paranoiac

Paranoiac

Shocking! Horrifying! Macabre!

1963 · 80 min · ★ 6.6 · Thriller, Horror

Eleven years ago, the wealthy Ashby family was shattered when Mr and Mrs Ashby died in an airplane crash and their grieving son Tony committed suicide. All who remains is cruel Simon, an alcoholic in desperate need of funds; his mentally fragile sister Eleanor; and his protective aunt Harriet. Simon is just weeks away from receiving his inheritance, but there's a hitch in his plans when the long-believed dead Tony suddenly arrives.

Directed by Freddie Francis · Written by Jimmy Sangster

Your Rating

Where to Watch

Rent or Buy

Cast

Janette Scott Eleanor Ashby
Oliver Reed Simon Ashby
Sheila Burrell Aunt Harriet
Maurice Denham John Kossett
Alexander Davion Tony Ashby
Liliane Brousse Françoise
Harold Lang RAF Type
Arnold Diamond Publican
John Bonney Keith Kossett
John Stuart Williams
Sydney Bromley Tramp (uncredited)
Laurie Leigh Woman #1 (uncredited)

Make it a double feature

3h together

Paranoiac

The Innocents

Both from Freddie Francis.

More from Freddie FrancisSee all →

The Elephant Man

The Elephant Man · 1980

The Elephant Man

MovieDramaHistory

A Victorian surgeon rescues a heavily disfigured man being mistreated by his "owner" as a side-show freak. Behind his monstrous façade, there is revealed a person of great intelligence and sensitivity.

Tales from the Crypt

Tales from the Crypt · 1989

Tales from the Crypt

SeriesComedyMystery

Cadaverous scream legend the Crypt Keeper is your macabre host for these forays of fright and fun based on the classic E.C. Comics tales from back in the day. So shamble up to the bar and pick your poison. Will it be an insane Santa on a personal slay ride? Honeymooners out to fulfill the "til death do we part" vow ASAP?

The Straight Story

The Straight Story · 1999

The Straight Story

Retired farmer and widower Alvin Straight learns one day that his estranged brother Lyle has suffered a severe stroke. Alvin is determined to make things right with Lyle while he still can, but his brother lives in Wisconsin, while Alvin is stuck in Iowa with no car and no driver's license. He then has the idea of making the trip on his old lawnmower, thus beginning a picturesque and at times deeply spiritual odyssey.

Glory

MovieDramaHistory

Robert Gould Shaw leads the US Civil War's first all-black volunteer company, fighting prejudices of both his own Union army and the Confederates.

The Innocents

The Innocents · 1961

MovieHorrorMystery

In a mid-19th century Essex country house, a young governess for two children becomes convinced that the house and grounds are haunted by ghosts and that the children are being possessed.

The Man in the Moon

The Man in the Moon · 1991

The Man in the Moon

MovieDramaRomance

Maureen Trant and her younger sibling Dani share a strong connection, but local boy Court Foster threatens to throw their bond off balance. Dani and Court meet first and have a flirtatious rapport -- but when he meets Maureen, he falls hard and they begin a passionate affair. The new couple try to keep their love hidden from Dani, but she soon learns the truth, disavowing her sister. But a heartbreaking accident later reunites the girls.

The Saint

The Saint · 1962

SeriesAction & AdventureCrime

Simon Templar is The Saint, a handsome, sophisticated, debonair, modern-day Robin Hood who recovers ill-gotten wealth and redistributes it to those in need.

Cape Fear

Cape Fear · 1991

MovieDramaCrime

Sam Bowden is a small-town corporate attorney. Max Cady is a tattooed, cigar-smoking, Bible-quoting, psychotic rapist. What do they have in common? 14 years ago, Sam was a public defender assigned to Max Cady's rape trial, and he made a serious error: he hid a document from his illiterate client that could have gotten him acquitted. Now, the cagey Cady has been released, and he intends to teach Sam Bowden and his family a thing or two about loss.

Man in a Suitcase

Man in a Suitcase · 1967

Man in a Suitcase

SeriesAction & AdventureDrama

Accused of treason, a former U.S. intelligence officer based in London tries to clear his name, taking on freelance jobs around Europe as he searches for answers.

Moby Dick

Moby Dick · 1956

MovieAdventureDrama

In 1841, young Ishmael signs up for service aboard the Pequod, a whaler sailing out of New Bedford. The ship is under the command of Captain Ahab, a strict disciplinarian who exhorts his men to find Moby Dick, the great white whale. Ahab lost his leg to that creature and is desperate for revenge. As the crew soon learns, he will stop at nothing to gain satisfaction.

The Tales of Hoffmann

The Tales of Hoffmann · 1951

The Tales of Hoffmann

MovieMusicFantasy

A melancholy poet reflects on three women he loved and lost in the past: a mechanical performing doll, a Venetian courtesan, and the consumptive daughter of a celebrated composer.

Room at the Top

Room at the Top · 1958

Room at the Top

MovieDramaRomance

An ambitious young accountant schemes to wed a wealthy factory owner's daughter, despite falling in love with a married older woman.

Tales from the Crypt

Tales from the Crypt · 1972

Tales from the Crypt

When a tourist group become lost within ancient catacombs, they meet the sinister Crypt Keeper, who tells them each their fate. The enigmatic figure's macabre stories involve a wife dabbling in murder, a retired sanitation worker targeted by his suspicious neighbors, and an adulterer who may face a fitting demise if the yarns come true.

Dracula Has Risen from the Grave

Dracula Has Risen from the Grave · 1968

Dracula Has Risen from the Grave

In the shadow of Castle Dracula, the Prince of Darkness is revived by blood trickling from the head-wound of an unconscious priest attempting exorcism. And once more fear and terror strikes Transylvania as the undead Prince of Darkness stalks the village of Keineneburg to ensnare victims and satisfy his evil thirst.

Moulin Rouge

Moulin Rouge · 1952

In 1890 Paris, Moulin Rouge is a nightclub where crippled artist Toulouse-Lautrec feels like he fits in. In the following years, he meets two women who provide an opportunity for him to find true love.

The Champions

The Champions · 1968

SeriesSci-Fi & FantasyAction & Adventure

After a plane carrying three Agents crashes in the Himalayas, they are rescued by an advanced civilisation secretly living in Tibet who grant them enhanced versions of the ordinary five senses, and intellectual and physical abilities.

More Like This

The Sixth Sense

The Sixth Sense · 1999

The Sixth Sense

MovieMysteryThriller

Following an unexpected tragedy, child psychologist Malcolm Crowe meets a nine year old boy named Cole Sear, who is hiding a dark secret.

The Shining

The Shining · 1980

MovieHorrorThriller

Jack Torrance accepts a caretaker job at the Overlook Hotel, where he, along with his wife Wendy and their son Danny, must live isolated from the rest of the world for the winter. But they aren't prepared for the madness that lurks within.

Sommersby

Sommersby · 1993

MovieDramaThriller

Set in the South just after the US Civil War, Laurel Sommersby is just managing to work the farm without her husband, believed killed in battle. By all accounts, Jack Sommersby was not a pleasant man, thus when he suddenly returns, Laurel has mixed emotions. It appears that Jack has changed a great deal, leading some people to believe that this is not actually Jack but an imposter. Laurel herself is unsure, but willing to take the man into her home, and perhaps later into her heart.

Elevator to the Gallows

Elevator to the Gallows · 1958

Elevator to the Gallows

MovieCrimeDrama

A self-assured businessman murders his employer, husband of his mistress, which unintentionally provokes an ill-fated chain of events.

Hannibal Rising

Hannibal Rising · 2007

Hannibal Rising

MovieCrimeThriller

The story of the early, murderous roots of the cannibalistic killer, Hannibal Lecter – from his hard-scrabble Lithuanian childhood, where he witnesses the repulsive lengths to which hungry soldiers will go to satiate themselves, through his sojourn in France, where as a medical student he hones his appetite for the kill and learnt sword skills from his Japanese girlfriend, who happened to have similar fate

Dog Day Afternoon

Dog Day Afternoon · 1975

Dog Day Afternoon

MovieCrimeDrama

Based on the true story of would-be Brooklyn bank robbers John Wojtowicz and Salvatore Naturile. Sonny and Sal attempt a bank heist which quickly turns sour and escalates into a hostage situation and stand-off with the police. As Sonny's motives for the robbery are slowly revealed and things become more complicated, the heist turns into a media circus.

The Talented Mr. Ripley

The Talented Mr. Ripley · 1999

The Talented Mr. Ripley

MovieThrillerCrime

Tom Ripley is a calculating young man who believes it's better to be a fake somebody than a real nobody. Opportunity knocks in the form of a wealthy U.S. shipbuilder who hires Tom to travel to Italy to bring back his playboy son, Dickie. Ripley worms his way into the idyllic lives of Dickie and his girlfriend, plunging into a daring scheme of duplicity, lies and murder.

Blackwater Lane

Blackwater Lane · 2024

Blackwater Lane

MovieThrillerDrama

An American school teacher in England drives past an abandoned car late one night, unaware that the driver was the victim of a murder. As she comes to terms with the realization, seemingly supernatural events start to affect the gothic manor she lives in with her husband.

Cape Fear

Cape Fear · 1991

MovieDramaCrime

Sam Bowden is a small-town corporate attorney. Max Cady is a tattooed, cigar-smoking, Bible-quoting, psychotic rapist. What do they have in common? 14 years ago, Sam was a public defender assigned to Max Cady's rape trial, and he made a serious error: he hid a document from his illiterate client that could have gotten him acquitted. Now, the cagey Cady has been released, and he intends to teach Sam Bowden and his family a thing or two about loss.

Stay

MovieMysteryThriller

Psychiatrist Sam Foster has a new patient, Henry Letham, who claims to be suicidal. In trying to diagnose him, Sam visits Henry's prior therapist and also finds Henry's mother -- even though Henry has said that he murdered both of his parents. As reality starts to contradict fact, Sam spirals into an unstable mental state. Then he finds a clue as to how and when Henry may try to kill himself, and races to try to stop him.

Ronin

MovieActionThriller

A briefcase with undisclosed contents – sought by Irish terrorists and the Russian mob – makes its way into criminals' hands. An Irish liaison assembles a squad of mercenaries, or 'ronin', and gives them the thorny task of recovering the case.

Sympathy for the Devil

Sympathy for the Devil · 2023

Sympathy for the Devil

MovieActionHorror

After being forced to drive a mysterious passenger at gunpoint, a man finds himself in a high-stakes game of cat and mouse where it becomes clear that not everything is as it seems.

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter