The Phantom Light (1935)
Michael Powell's The Phantom Light isn't so much a horror film as a crime thriller with spooky elements. Starring Gordon Harker as a new Lighthouse keeper at the lonely North Stack lighthouse on the Welsh Coast. Upon arrival he discovers the last keeper was murdered and the lighthouse is supposedly haunted. He isn't alone however as the lovely Binnie Hale (Legs up to her neck) wants to visit the lighthouse as she's from a psychic society.
Not surprisingly for a Powell film it's beautifully photographed and he achieves the paranoid claustrophobic atmosphere with ease but it soon comes to light the film is about wreckers rather than spooks. Still the film proves a nice blend of suspense and comedy with the delightful ms Hale ready to disrobe at the drop of a hat. I was quite surprised to see her wearing nothing but a slip then a towel amid a crew of hairy Welsh lighthouse keepers.
The final third is a tense ride as Harker and Hale have to go all out to stop a ship being dragged onto the rocks by the phantom light. There are better examples of thrillers from the time, yet all the same The Phantom Light is a worthy addition to any collection of British films.
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