The Man Who Haunted Himself (Special Edition)

The best part of this movie is seeing 1970s era London and England, the acting is okay, sir Roger Moore a good man in real life in my opinion was always just a medicor actor.

This movie is my ALL-TIME favorite picture ! What a fantastic story of something unusual to happen to a normally meek and unassuming British Businessman. Anybody would love it and find it unique and above average . . .

Tepid

Great movie starring the late Sir Roger Moore as you have never seen him. This was a hard movie to find. But Amazon made it possible. Thank you.

I bought this DVD when I read Roger Moore's delightful "My Word is my Bond". He said that this was the one time that he was "really allowed to act".If you like Roger Moore, thrillers and are willing to suspend disbelief, you'll enjoy this.However, this is more of a "fun" movie; don't expect an Academy Award caliber film.

Roger Moore gives a stealth performance. . . Wonderfully acted, great plot, cinematography is good for the time. All around great movie.

It would not play on my DVD player. It said "wrong region"

“The Man Who Haunted Himself” (1970), based on the short story “The Strange Case of Mr. Pelham” by Anthony Armstrong, stars Roger Moore (“The Spy Who Loved Me,” “Moonraker”) as Harold Pelham, a conservative executive with a frustrated wife (Hildegarde Neil), two young children, and a bland suburban life. After he recovers from a serious car accident, Pelham’s life becomes unsettling as co-workers, friends, and family start referring to actions, behaviors and comments of his that he absolutely can’t recall. It soon becomes clear that another version of himself is out there — more caustic, riskier, sexier — who seems determined to throw his carefully constructed world into utter chaos. What remains unclear for most of the film is whether there is a real, physical doppelgänger or it’s a figment of Pelham’s imagination.With a fascinating script by director Basil Dearden (“Dead of Night”) and Michael Relph, “The Man Who Haunted Himself” is a psychological thriller owing much to both Alfred Hitchcock and “The Twilight Zone.” An average man finds himself in an escalating series of bizarre events and tries desperately to figure out what’s happening to him. It may even be classified as a horror film in that Pelham is faced with an alternate version of himself who seems to be taking over his own life.If you’re only familiar with Roger Moore from his tenure as James Bond in seven 007 films, you’ll be surprised to see what a textured performance he turns in as not only Pelham, but his own doppelgänger. On screen for most of the movie, he easily dominates the production, convincing us of Pelham’s confusion, concern, and eventual terror.Supporting cast performances are uniformly good, with the exception of Freddie Jones as the psychiatrist who seems to have wandered in from a Monty Python comedy sketch. Jones plays the role too broadly, with distracting mannerisms that undercut his credibility as a man of science.“The Man Who Haunted Himself” was Basil Dearden’s final film in a career going back to 1939. Dearden builds the story gradually, starting off traditionally with Pelham routinely entering his car after work and heading home. But once on the highway, something compels him to gun the engine and race madly through traffic. What prompts him to be so reckless and wind up horribly injured in an awful accident? Setting up suspense and drawing us in as things turn increasingly weird, the film may hang on a strange occurrence in the operating room after the accident that creates more questions. This is the kind of thriller that forgoes graphic violence and gore in favor of creating mood and producing chills.A TV adaptation of the same story by Armstrong appeared on TV’s “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” in 1955 starring Tom Ewell as Mr. Pelham. Treated as a dark comedy rather than serious thriller, it was one of only a handful of the series’ installments personally directed by Hitchcock, who was nominated for an Emmy for that episode.Director Dearden and cinematographer Tony Spratling have given the movie a textured look with an interesting color palette. Early scenes of Pelham tend toward darker colors to suggest Pelham’s conservative lifestyle. But when Pelham’s doppelganger appears, colored lights and brighter colors are employed. Pelham 1’s sedan is brown, Pelham 2’s Lamborghini is bright silver. A climactic scene incorporates a broken mirror reflecting split images, and there’s quite an impressive scene in which Pelham 1 talks to Pelham 2 as 2 circles around 1. Usually, at the time, split screen was used to create the effect of the same actor talking to himself. The effect is striking, even by today’s standards. Bonus materials on the Blu-ray release include audio commentary, two horror directors discussing “The Man Who Haunted Himself,” and four theatrical trailers.

I have given five stars for the film, which for me was the late great Roger Moore at his finest.But I would love to give one star for the product, ie this copy comes in a slim-line DVD case, looks way out of place in my collection. Yes you do get the film on Blu-ray / DVD, but why the case ? and a separate release on pre order in a Blu-ray Case ?.But I must say the Blu-ray quality was very nice, so for me I will sell this copy and buy the pre-release.If I was you I would spend a bit extra case and wait for the Blu-ray release only, wish I didYou do get some good bonus features including "2005 Commentary with Roger Moore"Maximum picture area version of main feature (DVD only)34 Minute music suite of Michael J. Lewis original score.You get subtitles, but none for the bonus features.Four image galleries, including storyboards.Sound is in Mono, film ratio 1.75:1.Promotional material PDFs.Original theatrical trailer.

When asked not so long ago what modern movies did I like, it took me a while to come up with just two: American Beauty and Boogie Nights, both made some time ago. But if someone had asked to name some movies from the past that I’d enjoyed and would recommend, I don’t think I’d have to strain my mind to find a few. I could name many.The Man Who Haunted Himself is one such movie, a classic featuring Roger Moore at his very best. Indeed, it would come close to the top in my Top 10 movies of all time. For this movie is a classic, much like The Wicker Man (1973), Don’t Look Now (1973) and Night of the Demon (1957) are also classics of the supernatural.If you’ve never seen this movie, then I’d fully recommend it. The script, the scenes, the acting, the locations and, most of all, the cracking storyline are all top-notch.I can’t really fault this movie; it is an all time classic from the past. Movies like this aren’t made anymore, and if they are, such as is the case with remakes, they usually fall far short from these originals.I think I recall Moore saying that he was particularly proud of this movie. And so he should have been, for it is a classic and Moore’s best outing.I hope you find my review helpful.

I've had this one sitting on the shelf for some time now and just got around to watching it and well i'm very impressed - First off the Blu Ray transfer has to be one of the best I have seen for a film of this age - it's a great time capsule of britain in the late 60s. The film itself plays rather like a Tales from the Crypt / Twilight Zone kind of tale which is right up my street and there is also some highly inventive camera work, editing and FX that are impressive to this day. There is a specific scene that is reminiscent of movie from Bava and Argento with lurid lighting and a psychedelic edge that was surprising and impressive. Also the music was very similar to an Italian Giallo soundtrack. The film at times also reminded me of the great Amicus films of the 70s in its mood. So all in all this is a winner. The biggest negative is that this comes in a slimline dvd height box so it doesn't stack with the rest of your Blu Ray collection so this is on the shelf with my over oversize Blu Rays such as my Blade Runner Digibook. Finally this must be the best acting I have ever seen from Roger Moore - it's great to see him show some vulnerability and emotion in this film that proves he can really act!

I wanted to make a review but I would have said exactly the same thing zax93 said with the exception of his references to other movies I don't know. My copy had been sitting on my shelf nearly 2 years before i watched it. And I immediately noticed the stunning superior Blu-Ray quality and the superiority of this movie in every respect compared to any other in any age, as well as the music and the best acting I've ever seen from Roger Moore who really had the right face and voice to be the actor he was. That was a relief after having tried to watch CROSSPLOT for the first time also with Roger Moore which was defective on 2 different players starting with Part 3 till the end, so I had to throw it in the garbage which almost never happens. I'll buy it again one day!...

Loved it, little dated, but so am I.Sir Roger in one of hist best roles, and not to mention the Beautiful & wonderful Hildegard Blessed (nee Neil) along with a cracking supporting cast.Even has a reference to 'Bond' thrown in.I was fortunate enough to see Sir Roger just before he passed away on his spoken tour and I watched this with a bitter sweet feeling remembering growing up watching him on tv & film during my childhood in the 70's & thinking the world had lost a huge ersonality & talent. Great movie.