Stranger in the House

Wayward teens in Winchester get mixed up in a murder in this strange swinging sixties update of a Simenon suspense classic.

A gang of bored Winchester teens – including Angela (Geraldine Chaplin) and well-off Desmond (Ian Ogilvy) – get mixed up with murder in the house of Angela’s father, an embittered, washed-up barrister (James Mason). Psychedelic dream sequences, stylish set design and outstanding pop-art graphics embolden this powerful updating of Simenon’s tale of psychological suspense.

Thanks to its groovy soundtrack from The Animals, swinging night-club settings and Ian Ogilvy’s presence, this powerfully peculiar period piece – featuring a superb performance from James Mason – is sometimes reminiscent of Michael Reeves’ The Sorcerers (1967).