Two young crooks, Tony (Derren Nesbitt) and Frank (Keith Faulkner), cosh a bookmaker (Harry Locke) in order to rob him of his takings from the dog track. However, they discover the bag containing the money is chained to his wrist and the key is not on his person so they are forced to put his unconscious body in the back of the car and take him with them. They finally succeed in separating the bag from his wrist, but every time they try to dispose of his body it keeps reappearing and finally results in deadly consequences for the two men...Alongside House Of Mystery (1960), this is one of the most highly acclaimed second feature thrillers that writer-director Vernon Sewell ever made. For a film running for only 56 minutes, his tight and economical direction succeeds in getting maximum suspense out of the situations in Malcolm Hulke and Eric Paice's screenplay. A series of close calls occur as the two men narrowly avoid been caught before the film reaches disturbing supernatural climax. which is a match for anything any 'A' feature ghost thriller could do and it will chill your spine. Good performances too from Nesbitt who is utterly convincing as the more ruthless and cunning of the two men (he coshes the bookmaker and later kills him). Faulkner is quite good as the weak and easily lead Frank while Carol White of Cathy Come Home fame offers a gritty, realistic portrayal of the latter's wife who is dismayed at her husband's involvement with Tony and puts her foot down and says "It's either me or him. You come in with me or that door will close shut behind you." Frank later reveals that he had planned it to be his last job for Tony and tells his wife that he wanted the money so they could get out of their dingy, basement flat and so they both wouldn't have to go out to work. It is one of joys of these British crime thrillers that they feature believable and realistic working class villains with ordinary aspirations as opposed to the more glamouress, fanciful and not lifelike ones in their bigger budget Hollywood counterparts.

This is a British film noir which is truly a classic.It contains all the classic elements of the genre.Once poor old Harry Locke it is battered unconscious there is no going back.Matters just spiral out of control with no way out.Nesbitt plays a convincing liar till he gets what he wants.By then poor old Locke is dead and the noose awaits,these were the days when hanging was still the punishment for murder.The fact that this film only runs 54 minutes makes it all the more worthwhile that such a tight narrative is fitted into such a short period of time.Furthermore there are some nice sub Hitchcockian touches when it comes to dealing with both the living and dead Harry Locke.By the way Derren Nesbitt is still going strong and is one of the funniest speakers on the celebrity circuit.

... and believe me I'm not trying to trivialize what the two main characters did. This short little British noir is powered by very good acting by a trio of British players with whom I am not familiar combined with great atmosphere. Two young guys who want a short cut to the good life and aren't getting anywhere by betting on the dogs at the track decide to rob a bookie. They reason he'll be an easy target since what he does is illegal anyways and he won't report the crime to the police. From the time we meet the two robbers you know exactly where they are coming from. Frank is the weak-willed guy who goes along with whatever his more dominant and nefarious friend Tony wants, because "we're mates". Frank has a conscience and probably would have never gone down this road if not for Tony. Tony is bad news, is really nobody's mate, but knows how to manipulate Frank to help him get what he wants.The basic plot is the robbery goes bad from the start with the bookie handcuffed to his briefcase full of money, with the key to the handcuff forgotten on the bookie's desk as he leaves his office at the track. The pair of thieves are thus forced to take the unconscious bookie along with them as they have to steal the bookie's car too while they figure out how to extricate the bag from the bookie, and with them having to hit the bookie a second time when he comes to in the car. The bookie is seriously injured by this second blow, and now these two rather incompetent thugs have to balance not getting caught (Tony's top priority) with getting the bookie the medical attention he needs (Frank's main concern). The one concern they share is that of being given the death sentence should the bookie die. Everything that can go wrong does, and adding to the drama, Frank has a wife who has had it with him catting around at night with Tony whom she has pegged as bad news from the start.I'd highly recommend this little film that I just happened to run across on youtube. It's very short at an hour in length, but the tension just never lets up.

Mentioned in the sole IMDb comment on the recently-viewed Italian thriller TI ASPETTERO' ALL' INFERNO (1960) as being similar, this is even less of a ghost story than that one was – the haunting being relegated to the very last scene – but at least it does not cheat and have the 'manifestations' revealed as gimmicks! Anyway, this is one of an outburst of British B-movies (pretty much the equivalent of the 'quota quickies' of the 1930s but clearly having greater merit) which came out throughout the first half of the decade: most were thrillers and ran barely an hour in length (this one, in fact, clocks in at 54 minutes!). As far as I can recall, the only previous title I watched in this vein had been STRONGROOM (1962) – with which this shares director and leading man (Derren Nesbitt) – a long time ago early one morning on Italian TV…but have just acquired Sewell's HOUSE OF MYSTERY (1961; a genuine 'haunted house' movie this time around!) in time for this Halloween challenge, and also own at least two more i.e. THE IMPERSONATOR (1960) and THE TRAITORS (1962) in my collection. THE MAN IN THE BACK SEAT, then, is the 'ghost' in question, a bookie beaten up and abducted (since the money bag is chained to his wrist!) by "layabout" Nesbitt (with one leg in a cast!) and his married associate (Keith Faulkner); much of the proceedings take place in the car as everything seems to go wrong thereafter, and the couple are forced to drive around all night carrying their quarry – his life slowly ebbing away – with them. Faulkner wants to drive him to a hospital but the entry is blocked by security guards; the car gets a flat tyre and subsequently runs out of fuel – both of these bad breaks re-enforces Nesbitt's decision to get rid of the bookie, but they next attempt to have the man treated by a neighboring doctor who, suspecting foul play, does not want to get involved (so Nesbitt pays for his services, and his silence, with the blood money itself!). In the meantime, Faulkner's wife (Carol White) also becomes an unwitting accomplice, especially after having come across the secreted money bag; the robbers even try to dump their hapless victim on the street and make it look like he is a drunk, but Nesbitt had carelessly removed his gloves to douse him in alcohol – trying to rectify this mistake, the two are interrupted by a policeman on patrol so, they have to once more take to the road in tandem. Eventually, the man bites the dust as the other two are trying to reach yet another hospital; on their way to "scarper" from the scene of his final disposal, Faulkner begins to get paranoid – not only thinking every other car is the police chasing them, but he even keeps seeing the dead man's face in the rear-view mirror, which leads him to run their vehicle off the road into a ravine below. Nesbitt is killed instantaneously yet Faulkner barely survives and, when the police arrive, pleads with them to see to the third passenger…but the car blows up before they can do anything about it! Terse, gripping and stylish, the film makes for a sterling example of just what can be accomplished even with meager resources.