Two on a Guillotine (1965)

(On Cable TV, May 2022) Aw, yeah, another haunted-house story: In order to inherit a fortune, the daughter of a murderous crackpot magician must remain in his creepy booby-trapped house for a full week. Lovely premise, especially for someone like me who can’t get enough “spend the night in the haunted house” stories. The first third of Two on a Guillotine has a nice quasi-William Castle quality, as low-budget filmmakers use cleverness to compensate for deficient production values. I particularly liked the reading of the will theatrically staged at the Hollywood Bowl (something that even the characters find over-the-top), and Dean Jones’s turn as a sarcastic reporter who volunteers to help our heroine make it through the ordeal. Unfortunately, the film takes a dive after that promising opening – while it generally remains watchable until its dramatic ending, Two on a Guillotine can’t quite recapture the banter and the flashiness of its opening. In the end, it degrades into a very standard-issue haunted house thriller, not quite taking full advantage of its opportunities. That’s too bad… but this is hardly the first haunted house thriller to run out of steam after a promising opening. Don’t expect too much and you should be fine.