Well, it was not all that bad of a film.... I've seen better and I've seen worse. Worth watching if you want a different type of a ghost film and like the classics.Easy story to watch: An innocent man was hanged, a confession made and ghost out for revenge. For me, the best part about the film was the fact it is set in the swamp - it has a creepy aura to it. I also liked the ferry - pretty cool way to cross the swamplands. What I was not crazy about the ending nor did I like the "romance" in this flick - wish the "budding romance" was left out and someone else rid the swamps of the ghost. Still an OK movie to watch.6/10

I believe I first heard of this one after reading Michael Elliott's more or less favorable appraisal of it and, by and large, I find myself agreeing with his assessment. The title pretty much explains both the film's theme (horror/thriller) and style (foggy atmosphere). For a PRC effort, I guess it is slightly above-par quality-wise but this does not in any way make it some lost genre classic: this reminds me of Leslie Halliwell's comment about Edgar G. Ulmer's rather splendid 1944 BLUEBEARD: "possibly the most interesting film ever to come from PRC (which isn't saying very much)".The strangler (played, in ghostly form, by Charles Middleton) is a ferry-man who was hung for a crime he did not commit. It transpires that the person to succeed him in that job (which is vital for locals to travel across the swamp to the other side of town) was actually the one whose testimony proved decisive in the eventual conviction – and it is later suggested that he was merely after the post! However, before dying, Middleton curses not only the people who sent him to his death but their descendants as well...and, to be sure, a number of accidental stranglings have been occurring, which the superstitious community obviously blames on this blood-curdling warning! Soon, it is the turn of the new ferry-man to get his just desserts: a trio of intrepid elderly women cross over to cut down the hangman's noose left in place after Middleton's execution and, left alone in the boat to dispose of the rope, the old man throws it up in the air – with the noose then falling squarely around his neck and, as the other end is caught in some brushes, he ends up choking like the others! This latest victim had actually intended retiring since he was getting on in years and, soon after, his replacement – a girl, and his own niece – arrives, as does the son (played by future director Blake Edwards!) of an eminent member there. Naturally, the two youngsters fall for one another and, given that they are related to two of Middleton's 'murderers', he adds them to his list of proposed victims. The elders of the town are convinced that only if one of those involved gives himself willingly to the strangler can the curse be lifted but, needless to say, nobody has the courage for it. When Edwards himself is almost done in, it is up to either his father or his girl to save him – having already been made to take up what is normally a man's task, it is no surprise to find that it is she who comes through for the leading man as well...but rather than giving herself to the former ferry-man, she pleads with him to give up his revenge quest and rest in peace (yes, people in this film can actually converse with the ghost!).In the long run, this emerges as middling but not displeasing fare: the narrative may hardly be original yet it is reasonably engaging and, while the approach comes across as somewhat pedestrian, it nonetheless manages to convey the appropriate mood throughout.

William K. Everson, in his fairly thorough CLASSICS OF THE HORROR FILM, states: "Make no mistake about it: STRANGLER OF THE SWAMP is a grade "B" movie, and not an unsung masterpiece." A salient observation, to say the least. It was because of Everson's book, which includes some striking shots of Middleton as "the Strangler", that I sought out this movie. Unfortunately, the ghostly whiteface in the photos is (deliberately) obscured in the movie by some cheesy in-camera "effects" (the smearing of something dark on that part of the lens before which Middleton stands; when he exits a shot, the smudge is clearly visible). The atmospheric opening scenes of STRANGLER OF THE SWAMP are beautifully done and even some of the closing scenes are well mounted, but everything in between (the bulk of the movie) is awful. (Reminding one of the Marx Brothers movies, in which there was always the obligatory romance and tiresome musical numbers- holdovers from vaudeville and various stage productions- that did nothing more than bring the proceedings to a screeching halt.) Trim STRANGLER OF THE SWAMP to 30 minutes or so and we're talking a classic.

Strangler of the Swamp was made by low budget studio PRC and is certainly one of their best movies I've seen.A man who was hanged for a murder he didn't commit returns as a ghost for revenge on the people who accused him. He uses a rope to strangle his victims and after several deaths, including the old man who operates the ferry across the swamp, he disappears. The old man's granddaughter takes over the ferry herself and also falls in love with one of the local men and they decide to get married.This movie has plenty of foggy atmospheres, which makes it very creepy too.The cast includes Rosemary La Planche, Blake Edwards and Charles Middleton (Flash Gordon) as the Strangler.Strangler of the Swamp is a must for old horror fans like myself. Excellent.Rating: 3 and a half stars out of 5.