When a man chases his windblown hat into the courtyard of a creepy looking house, he goes inside to investigate. There he finds all manner of odd occurrences, beginning with a corpse on the landing, a strange man attending to the deceased, and a woman falling through the roof. When even more unusual people begin showing up, it’s clear something out of the ordinary is going on.

As with most of Hitchcock’s early films, I’d heard nothing about this film prior to watching it, so had very little to expect upon the viewing. As such I was pleasantly surprised to discover this relatively unknown gem, full of surprises, quirky characters and unusual occurrences. Unfortunately, the twisty nature of the plot, which sees you never further than a couple of minutes from the next revelation, character introduction or the revealing of someone turning out to not be whom they originally appeared, makes it relatively difficult to discuss without giving away any spoilers, seeing as there are so many to be given away! Considering the film clocks in at just a few minutes over an hour, that’s some impressive script work. It does render the plot a trifle confusing at times, but I got through it having largely understood everything that was going on, and without thinking a second viewing was required. Continue reading →