"Tormented" is one of those classic black and white horror movies that was made back in the 60's when horror was a common theme in most films. It's a film I picture my mom and dad watching at the theater when they were teenagers (My parents were teens back in the 60's).The story is about a troubled piano player, a man with two problems. He is getting married, but his ex is jealous and wants him back. In an argument the woman due to a loose railing on top of a lighthouse falls to the ocean and her death. The man, racked with guilt, convinces himself that it wasn't his fault. Or is it? As time goes on, the man is haunted by ghostly conversation, visitations, and appearances by his dead ex girlfriend, who claims that he is still her's and will always be hers.Eventually things get out of hand and the man does something that he truly will regret, in front of an innocent pure witness. The story was good, but the film was not long enough for my taste. It felt way to short hence the 8 rating I give it. I felt it needed more because it was good for what it was back in the day. It's a fun horror film. 8/10 for Tormented

The final 10-minutes or so amounts to a neat wrinkle I didn't see coming. Too bad the rest of the ghost film is so utterly pedestrian. On the eve of his wedding to Meg (Sanders), Tom (Carlson) is confronted in a remote lighthouse by former lover, Vi (Reding). Unwilling to give up prospects of marrying into wealth, Tom allows Vi to fall into the ocean below, refusing to help as she dangles from the tower. Now he's haunted by her ghost, even as he continues his wedding plans.In my view, the material really needs a visual stylist to complement the spooky premise. As is, Director Gordon films in flat, high-key style thereby undercutting the eerie premise. Add a ghost who resembles Marilyn Monroe at her softest, and I was anything but repelled or even unsettled. Unfortunately, the occasional apparitions are about as scary as over-exposed film, which the effect likely is. If the writers were reaching for some kind of ghostly novelty, they got it, but at the movie's expense. Cast against type, a 50-year old wholesome Carlson fails to show much needed shadow of his own, and as a jazz musician and swain of a 20- year old cutie, he's a stretch. What the film does have is beguiling little 10-year old Susan Gordon (the director's daughter) as Meg's sister. She manages to steal the film in unobtrusive fashion unlike many Hollywood moppets. Also, catch Joe Turkel as the jive talking boat captain, apparently on loan from Kubrick and his iconic role in The Shining (1980). Otherwise, the 75-minutes amounts to an all-too-real bust, bombshell ghost or no.

Richard Carlson (Tom) tells Juli Reding (Vi) that it's over between them and that he intends to marry Lugene Sanders (Meg). This opening scene takes place in a lighthouse and has an unhappy ending for Miss Reding as she falls to her death. Carlson could have saved her but decided not to, after all, with her out of the way, he is a free man to get it on with Sanders without any troubles. He couldn't be more wrong. Reding comes back to haunt him.Don't expect a well-acted, scary ghost story. Instead, psyche yourself up for a fun film that will make you cringe at times and be almost quite good at other times. This is despite the cast who perfectly demonstrate the acting-by-numbers technique, ie, acting without being any good. Main offenders are Carlson who is a complete douchebag throughout the whole film, Susan Gordon (Sandy) who plays the young girl who acts like a grown-up and Lillian Adams (Mrs Ellis) who plays a blind landlady that knows more than sighted people do as they always seem to.The dialogue is crass but the film keeps you watching. Juli Reding is the best thing about the film which does provide a couple of spooky moments. Carlson deserves everything that he gets for choosing the insipid Doris Day lookalike over her for a life partner. I liked how the story finished. You just know who is going to have the last laugh......and where is that wedding ring?

Bert I. Gordon strikes again, or is that strikes out...What could have been a fairly entertaining spooky film, becomes a noisy over-bearing attempt at creepiness. Tom Stewart(Richard Carlson) a would be jazz musician and entertainer of multiple female relationships, is about to be blackmailed by Vi Mason(Juli Reding) of all places an abandoned lighthouse. When the railing gives way, and she is left hanging for her life, Tom gets cold feet, uh, cold hands and decides to let gravity take over, bye bye Vi...but only for awhile, as her ghost returns to haunt the guilt-ridden Tom. The sound is scratchy and grating. The dialog childish and goofy, which makes the movie more fun. Is this a terrible film, no, but it is disappointing. 2 stars out of 10, for Actors Richard Carlson,Susan Gordon, Joe Turkel,Gene Roth, as they try and make the film work, but Mr. BIG has already sealed that fate. Beware of the Floating Fake Head...silly...