Actually, It Could Have Been Called "She-Bitch Of London!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

                                             Girls, let's face it, that Sara Haden as Aunt Martha Winthrop, was some grade A bitch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                               Did you notice how closely this film resembles "Gaslight?"

                                                Poor  Phyllis  Allenby, played by June Lockhart.  She was so sweet; who would suspect her?  Haunted by a  family werewolf curse,  which Aunt Martha (who is really not an aunt,  but a rejected woman from Phyllis' father's past, who stays on as housekeeper, and raises her unsuspecting daughter, Carol (Jan Wiley) as Phyllis's cousin.) exploits, in order to drive Phyllis insane.  Aunt Martha, desperate every minute, wishes to do this, so her daughter can marry Phyllis' intended,  Barry Landfield, played by Don Porter.  Are you with me so far???????????????

                                                  Of course, only I  knew  all this,  having seen the film  before.  What surprised me this  time  around was the blatant low budget.  Instead of the mysterious woman being apprehended and  unmasked in the  park, as Aunt Martha, the  producers obviously wanted to wrap this one up, so they concocted  a self-confessional  monologue, which Martha delivers over Phyllis, who chases after her, leaving Aunt Martha to fall down the stairs, and on her knife!

                                                     I would have preferred my own ending,  mentioned  above.  Also,  I felt so sorry for poor Carol, who had no  idea how despicable her mother was; even if the  two have had  words.   As for Aunt Martha,  it was all for naught; I think Phyllis  would have allowed Martha and Carol  to stay on  in the house, had auntie just  stayed  out of  it.

                                                       This film makes the best argument for  never  taking  in relatives.

                                                        You know what they say about  fish and guests,  darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                          Finally, some questions I have about the film.

                                                          1. Martha's last  name was  Winthrop?  Did she marry a man by that name, and have  Carol  that way?

                                                            Or--

                                                            2. Had she been impregnated by Allenby, with a maiden name of Winthrop, and that was why she and Carol were kept on?

                                                              Lastly--

                                                              3.  Phyllis is an orphan.  She mentions her parents having been killed, but never says when, or how.  Could Aunt Martha have had something to do with that?

                                                               As the beloved Dorothy Parker said, "I wouldn't be at  all surprised!!!!!!!!!!!!!"