SoftInloveRox
Horrible, fascist and poorly acted
MonsterPerfect
Good idea lost in the noise
Allissa
.Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.
Richard Chatten
In 1968, when I was nine years old, I was about 10 minutes from the end of this gripping Hammer psycho-thriller on Anglia Television when my father amused himself by suddenly packing me off to bed. It's taken me forty-nine years, but tonight I finally got to see the ending of this film.Hammer's psychological thrillers of the early sixties are usually deemed sub-Hitchcock copies of 'Psycho'; but since 'The Snorkel' was released a full two years before 'Psycho' their inspiration is more obviously Henri-Georges Clouzot's 'Les Diaboliques' (1955), from the mystery novel by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narjejac, who also wrote the book on which 'Vertigo' was based. (Peter van Eyck, the evil stepfather in 'The Snorkel', actually starred in Clouzot's previous film, 'Le Salaire de la Peur'.) 'The Snorkel' was the last film lead played by the unique Mandy Miller, then 13, whose dramatically arched eyebrows and full lips render her still recognisable as the pretty little deaf & dumb girl from Ealing Studio's classic 'Mandy' (1952). Already convinced that her mother is simply the second of her two parents to be murdered by Van Eyck, a poster of Cousteau's 'Le Monde du Silence' provides her with the clue she needs as to how he did it, and she enters with gusto into a game of cat and mouse with her wicked stepfather. Thus provoked, Van Eyck puts on his striped jersey and rubber gloves again, slips her a Mickey Finn, seals off all the windows and doors and turns on the gas, and then...It's taken me nearly fifty years to find out what happened next, but it's a beaut!
AaronCapenBanner
Guy Green directed this mystery/suspense tale that stars Mandy Miller as Candy Brown, a young woman living in Italy at her stepfather's villa, whom she suspects of murdering her mother and father in an effort to inherit the family wealth, but she doesn't know how, and can't convince either her other relatives or the authorities. Of course, she is right, as the stepfather(Paul Decker, played by Peter van Eyck) has built a trap door in the bedroom where he can conceal himself, and uses a snorkel and a series of tubes to breathe in air. He needed this because he killed her with gas, and is now planning on doing away with Candy. Clever film builds interest in its characters and premise(with an unknown cast) that lead to a most effective, and ironic twist ending.
Mark Honhorst
One of my worst fears in life is being trapped in a confined space with a dwindling air supply and no one to hear you scream. I won't give you any details as one of my other worst fears is giving away spoilers on IMDb(he said sarcastically), but you will find a scene like this in the 1958 classic, yet nearly forgotten nail biter, "The Snorkel", which is probably one of the main reasons why I'm giving it such a high rating. But the film has many other merits besides having one scene of unrelenting suspense;it also has a leading female character whom you can root for, who seems weak as a flower in her sanity, yet tough as nails as her tormentor pushes her to the edge. Our bad guy( I know there's a better word for bad guy out there, but I'm too tired to think of it now) is devilish, yet deserving of some sympathy by the end of the film. "The Snorkel" is a simple yet well played suspense film, one that can be enjoyed by hardcore Hammer fans and anyone looking for a good, solid suspense flick.
dbdumonteil
...but in much more tragic circumstances than the teenage young detective .This is an entertaining thriller,quite suspenseful,even if its title is some kind of spoiler.Peter Van Eyck is ideally cast as the villain but the ending would have been better if the last scene in the police station had been deleted : the last scene in the house might indicate that Mandy is losing her mind ,which was an interesting idea.The ending leaves no mystery,which is unworthy of Hammer .Watch it anyway !Peter Van Eyck is really scary with his snorkel while the young Many Miller,though not as brilliant as Pamela Franklin ,is quite good.
