Eleven years ago, John and Mary Ashby died in a plane crash, and three years later, their eldest son, Antony, known to everyone as Tony, seemingly committed suicide by jumping to his death off a cliff overlooking the sea. Now, the two remaining children, Eleanor and Simon, are under the care of their Aunt Harriet. Eleanor, utterly devastated by Tony's death, as she was especially close to him, is meek and emotionally fragile, while Simon is cold and cruel, often getting extremely drunk, aggravating his unstable mind, and only cares about receiving his share of the family's wealth in three weeks' time. Moreover, he would like nothing more than to have Eleanor committed so he can inherit her share as well. While at a church service commemorating her parents' memory, Eleanor is shocked when she sees a figure standing in the doorway that resembles Tony as an adult. That night, she sees him in the garden on the Ashby estate and then comes face-to-face with him. This convinces her he is Tony and he's returned from beyond the grave to take her with him, but he disappears before she can truly confirm this. Distraught over what's happened, Eleanor attempts suicide in the same manner as Tony, but is rescued by the man she believed was her brother. He takes her back to the Ashby estate, where many of the family recognize him as Tony, including Simon, who is absolutely shocked when he sees his face. Eventually, the man does identify himself as Tony, insisting he faked his death and ran away. While Eleanor takes his claim at face value, Harriet isn't convinced at all, and Simon, who admits he doesn't believe it either, is not happy about this man's appearance, as it threatens his inheritance. Indeed, the man is not Tony, but a lookalike imposter, who's been hired by Keith Kossett, the son of the family's attorney, as part of an elaborate fraud scheme. However, the imposter is having second thoughts because of the feelings he's developing for Eleanor, but Keith blackmails him into keeping it up, telling him of the criminal charges for such a crime. And as the imposter keeps up the charade and stays at the Ashby estate, he starts to uncover a dark secret that suggests Simon is dangerously disturbed, and that the real Tony's fate was more horrific than a suicide.
When he returns home, he acts much more accommodating to this man who's supposedly his brother, even though he admits he's not sure he really is, telling Aunt Harriet they may as well be democratic about it until they do know. However, I say "accommodating" in a very loose term, as there's still an overwhelming hostility about Simon in his interactions with "Tony," like in one scene where he watches him like a hawk as he makes his way up to his old room, seeing if he knows where it is, as Tony would. And when Kossett talks with the man to see if he really is Tony, Simon is convinced he wants him to be, as it would mean he wouldn't get as much of the inheritance as he would have before. Deciding not to watch the proceedings, he leaves and, predictably, goes to an inn to get drunk. In fact, he gets extremely drunk, claiming he's celebrating his brother's return, and starts pouring booze down the throat of a man who he mistakes for Tony. One of his friends tries to stop him but Simon angrily shoves him away, grabs some darts out of a board, and threatens him with them, even lunging at him. However, he's tripped before he can get at him and laughs while in a drunken stupor on the floor. Tony later takes him home, and on the way, Simon tells him he doesn't believe he is his brother. That incident serves as the first sign that Simon is deranged as well as an alcoholic, and true confirmation comes when he sabotages the car in an attempt to kill Tony. Totally distraught when Tony and Eleanor come back safe, it's later revealed that Simon has completely plunged into madness when Tony and Eleanor find him playing the organ in the family chapel, accompanied by what is revealed to be a recording of young Tony singing. Aunt Harriet, who was also there, dressed as a choirboy and wearing a bizarre mask, later tells them that Simon has been driven insane from guilt over Tony's death and that what they witnessed was a bizarre ritual she has to take part in every now and then in order to placate him. Moreover, the arrival of the imposter has exacerbated Simon's mental state, since he doesn't really think he is Tony.
Simon soon turns homicidal, murdering Francoise, Eleanor's nurse, who's actually a lover of his whom he brought over simply to pose as a nurse, as well as to make Eleanor think she's going insane. However, Simon has been as cruel to her as he has to everyone else, often humiliating and emotionally abusing her. When Francoise, realizing Simon tried to kill Tony and Eleanor, attempts to leave, and threatens to tell people everything if he tries to stop her or comes after her, he drowns her in the garden pond. The next day, Simon tells Eleanor that Francoise left, and also disdainfully tells her that Tony has left for the day, though he's certain he'll be back. That night, all of Simon's depraved secrets are revealed when Tony discovers the real Tony Ashby's mummified corpse hidden in the chapel, as it was Simon who murdered him. Simon's psychopathy is then revealed to stretch back at least to when he was just thirteen, when he tricked Tony into writing his own suicide note in a game, two years before he actually killed him. Although he's often talked about his brother as though he hated him, when he knocks the imposter out, he speaks to his brother in an affectionate way, babbling about how he tried to fool them, and digs the corpse out, sitting it by the organ while he plays. He tells the imposter that he and Tony have decided on his fate, that he's going to join his brother in death since he's been alone for a long time. Aunt Harriet, who's had something of a strained, motherly relationship with Simon, shows up and gets him to leave the chapel, saying she'll take care of things, which leads to her setting the place on fire. But, her attempt to burn the imposter alive fails, as he's rescued by Eleanor, and Simon crazily runs back into the chapel, wanting to "save" Tony, but is overcome by the flames and burns to death with the corpse.
Though it's not mentioned in the credits, Paranoiac is based on a 1949 novel by author Josephine Tey called Brat Farrar, though screenwriter Jimmy Sangster took a number of liberties in his adaptation. For instance, in the book, it's known from the start that the man passing himself off as the deceased Ashby (Patrick, in that case) is an imposter, while Sangster holds off on the reveal, likely to make the viewer wonder if Tony Ashby actually has returned from the dead. He also all but removes a horse-racing aspect of the story that's very prominent in the novel, save for a moment where the fake Tony mentions that John Kossett give him a pony for his birthday one year. In a similar vein, in the book, Simon tries to kill the imposter by talking him into riding a particularly wild and uncontrollable horse, while here, Simon merely sabotages a car. But the biggest change to the story is Simon being a full-on psychopath; all of the stuff involving his psychotic guilt over having killed his brother and Aunt Harriet having to take part in the disturbing charade where Simon pretends Tony is still alive was invented by Sangster. This revelation gives the film a structure similar to Psycho, in how it starts out as crime mystery film but then, becomes a horror-thriller centering around a very disturbed character. Though Simon doesn't have a split personality like Norman Bates, his acting like his brother, whom he himself killed, is still alive and the reveal that he's hidden the corpse and often has conversations with it is right out of Psycho. Also, like with Norman, Simon's psychosis tends to lead to a correlation between sexuality and violence in his interactions with Francoise, where he's abusive and cruel to her. An example of this is when Francoise calls Simon out on his cruelty, which he responds by rubbing her shoulder, seductively whispering, "But then, you like me hurting you, don't you?", and pulls her into a rough kiss, which he ends by pushing her back on the bed. And then, there's the fact that Simon again seduces and kisses Francoise before he drowns her in the garden pond.
All of that interesting and unsettling subtext, combined with Oliver Reed's great performance (his psychotic rages are truly terrifying in how ferocious and real they feel), is why I think Simon is the best part of the story; he's also really the only part of the story I can get into, as I don't really care for the other characters, even though the acting is fine on all fronts. Even though what Aunt Harriet has to occasionally do to ease Simon's psychosis is disturbingly interesting, I ultimately find myself not being all that blown away by her own obscure motivation and reasoning for it, which lead her to be overly maternal to Simon and attempt to kill the fake Tony and burn down the chapel. I also find it uninteresting and rather tiring how much time is spent on Eleanor being devastated over having lost her brother and how ecstatic she is when he seemingly returns to her. In fact, it's to the point where you feel like this girl's affection for him is unhealthy, and, sure enough, Eleanor herself realizes she's having incestuous thoughts and tries to commit suicide over them. This would be interesting to go into deeper, but no more is made of it after the fake Tony reveals he isn't really her brother, despite the fact that Eleanor almost acted on those thoughts before she learned the truth (likely, they couldn't do more with it because of the period and the censors, but I wish it wasn't discarded completely).
I think a big reason why I can't get into what's going on with many of the characters is because of how sluggish the pace feels for the first half or so, with not much interesting happening, save for the glimpses you get into how psychotic Simon is, and also because of how overly complex it all feels, with the mystery of whether or not Tony Ashby really has returned, Eleanor's devastation over his apparent suicide and belief that he will come back in some manner, the reveal that the man claiming to be Tony isn't actually him and the reason for his con, and the mystery involving what's going on at the family chapel at night. I'll admit, that latter part is actually quite interesting and creepy, as is the revelation of what's actually going on, and, in fact, I wish it were the main mystery... but no, instead, you get the reveal that Simon actually killed Tony and is keeping his corpse hidden in the chapel. Besides feeling a lot like Psycho, I think it's also just a little much too, adding a complex and possibly incestuous Cain and Abel aspect to it, and feel it would have been perfectly fine if it was revealed that Tony had committed suicide, probably because of Simon's constant cruelty, and that his insanity was the result of guilt and led him to become dangerous to everyone around him.
On a visual and technical level, Paranoiac is a very well-made film, as was often the case whenever Freddie Francis was at the helm. Not only is the black-and-white cinematography by Arthur Grant absolutely gorgeous and atmospheric, but Francis, not content with being confined at Bray Studios, shoots some very lovely location footage of the coastlines and seaside cliffs of Dorset for several scenes, such as the opening credits, the scene where the fake Tony saves Eleanor from her suicide attempt, and the picnic where Tony saves Eleanor from nearly going over the cliff due to Simon's having sabotaged the car. He also does some interesting things with the camera, such as how, in certain scenes, the edges of the screen become very subtly fuzzy and curved, creating something of tunnel vision in the shots. It was an effect he'd employed while shooting The Innocents (his work on that film was one of Hammer's main incentives in hiring him to direct for them) as a means of creating a sense of ambivalence, and he does the same here, often whenever Eleanor is onscreen in order to emphasize how she's not quite right upstairs. In a similar vein, when Eleanor looks out her bedroom window and sees the figure she believes to be Tony for the second time, the edges around the figure are very blurry and distorted, which could simply be an effect of the glass being fogged but, since it's from her POV, it could also hint at how her viewpoint is very much distorted. And when Simon kills Francoise, there's another POV, this time from her after she's been forced down into the water, looking up at him above the rippling surface as he pulls his hand out of the water and then tosses a small pebble into the water as well. Really, the only instances of bad visuals in the film are some horribly dated rear screen projection work for some of the driving scenes, a shot of Eleanor before she tries to jump to her death, and a handful when Eleanor is in the car as it's threatening to go over the cliff.
While Paranoiac is not a Hammer Gothic in the traditional sense, Bernard Robinson's design of the main sets of the interiors of the Ashby estate do have a Gothic flavor to them and its exterior, which I think is actually just Bray Studios itself, being so classic in that mold, complete with its topiary all around and a pond in the garden, that it wouldn't look out of place in their Dracula or Frankenstein films. The interiors have a rather claustrophobic, dark, moody feel, especially at night, with the main foyer leading up to a second floor with one of two paths to take that lead into some closed-in hallways. That said, there is a comfortable sitting room off to the right of said foyer, and Eleanor's room has a notable dividing structure in the form of wooden columns and big, high-stretching windows in the back. But what's especially Gothic and memorable is the old family chapel on the back side of the property, which you can only reach through a door that leads into a small alleyway. The chapel is totally rundown on the inside, with plenty of cobwebs and pieces of destroyed architecture, and the section of the wall beside the large organ has a hidden panel that covers an old, brittle wall behind which the real Tony's mummified corpse is eventually found. It makes for an interesting counterpart to the actual church that features in the opening scene, the outside graveyard of which house the graves of John and Mary Ashby.
The film does indeed have some effective atmosphere to it. For one, the black-and-white photography, combined with the often overcast skies in the daytime scenes, creates a pall of melancholia that hangs over the already downbeat proceedings, especially in the opening in the churchyard, and it's further amplified by the aforementioned dark, shadow-filled, claustrophobic interiors of the Ashby estate and the equally murky nighttime exteriors. The many shots of the sea at the bottom of the clifftops act as a constant reminder of how Tony Ashby supposedly met his fate and the cliffs themselves seem to pull the characters to them in a manner that usually involves another possible death, be it when Eleanor tries to join her brother or when they have a picnic, only for Eleanor to nearly go over the cliff in the car thanks to Simon's sabotage. However, the most effective instances of atmosphere come in the scenes where Tony and Eleanor hear the sound of organ music, accompanied by a boy singing, emitting from the family chapel. Those scenes are done in total silence, the only sounds being the music and singing, which can be faintly heard from within the house, and it's quite suspenseful to watch the characters get out of bed and follow the sound outside and to the chapel. The first is the most effective, as you don't know what's going on, and you watch Tony head outside and slowly the approach the front door of the chapel, which is slightly ajar, and then peer inside to see a hooded figure playing the organ, only for him to get attacked by a masked figure before he can investigate further. The second time this happens is a little less creepy, as when Tony and Eleanor peer through one of the chapel's windows, the mystery of what's going on starts to unravel, but the revelation Aunt Harriet is forced to make afterward makes up for it immensely.
There's only one instance of bloody violence, when Tony is stabbed in the arm by the masked, hook-wielding figure dressed up as a choirboy, and you see it bleeding when he's cleaning it in a sink afterward, but that's nothing compared to how freaky the actual figure is. That shot of the figure standing, brandishing the hook, was the one image from the film featured in that old book on horror movies and it really stuck with me (I seem to remember the picture in the book showing the figure holding a knife rather than a hook, but my memory could be faulty). It's the mask that's the creepiest part, with that grotesque, grinning face and the eyes moving behind it while everything else remains fixed, and the addition of the choirboy outfit adds a layer of perverseness to it. You could easily see that being used as the main getup of a slasher movie villain due to its unnerving quality, and as I've said, the reveal that it's actually Aunt Harriet and the bizarre ritual surrounding it adds all the more to it. And while I think the additional layer of Simon having a Norman Bates-like relationship with the corpse of his brother is a bit too much, the corpse itself is, for me, on par with that of Mrs. Bates in how realistically disgusting and chilling it looks (again, the choirboy outfit just makes it all the more skin-crawling).
After the opening credits, the story begins at a church service held in memory of John, Mary, and Antony Ashby, whose graves are marked outside. The priest talks about the lasting effect of their deaths on the still living members of the family, as the camera pans to Aunt Harriet and Eleanor, who sit together in the pew up front. He also mentions Simon and how sorrowful he must be about those he's lost, but when the film cuts to Simon, as he sits in the loft where he plays the organ, smoking a cigarette, it's clear that sorrow hardly describes his mindset. The priest goes on about Tony Ashby's suicide, remarking how it was sinful but God was likely merciful and allowed him to be with his parents, before telling everyone they will now sing a hymn. Up in his loft, Simon prepares the organ and begins playing, as everyone rises. A shadowy figure appears in the church's doorway and Eleanor, apparently sensing the presence, turns and looks. Her eyes widen quickly and she collapses on the edge of the pew. Francoise, looking to the door and seeing nothing, rushes to her aid, along with Harriet, while Simon looks at what's happened with a sneering smirk on his face. Under the circumstances, the priest decides to end the service early and everyone heads out the door, Eleanor apologizing to the priest as she's helped up. Simon makes his way out the back and goes around the front. Harriet asks him to help with Eleanor but he refuses, saying that's what they pay Francoise for, and walks over to his sports car, which he speeds off in after asking Harriet if she wants him to give her a lift. The other Ashbys climb into a limousine, while out in the graveyard, a figure watches them drive away while standing beside Tony Ashby's headstone.
That night, in her room at the Ashby estate, Eleanor tells Francoise that she fainted because she saw the figure of her dead brother in the church's doorway. She's sure Tony has returned from the dead to fetch her, but Francoise insists that her brother is dead and that she merely imagined she saw him, going as far as to describe what must have happened after he threw himself off the seaside cliff in detail, deeply upsetting her and prompting Francoise to leave her alone. Meanwhile, Simon comes speeding up in his sports car, gets out, and drunkenly staggers inside, where Harriet is waiting in the drawing room, listening to a recording of a classical piece. Simon drinks even more, as Harriet admonishes him for his behavior, especially on the day that was meant to commemorate his dead parents and brother, while he, in turn, says it's her idea to dredge up memories of them every year. He also tells her that Eleanor is insane and should be put away. Francoise comes downstairs to say that Eleanor has asked to be excused from dinner, and Simon tries to get her to admit she's insane as well, though Francoise says that's a decision for a doctor to make. Up in her room, Eleanor tries to calm herself, when she, again, senses a presence and, looking out the window and into the garden, sees the same figure she saw at the church. Convinced it's Tony, she panics when she sees him walking away, asking him to wait for her, and rushes out the door and down the stairs. She then quietly makes her away down to the foyer, hearing Harriet giving Simon more of a dressing down, and heads out the door and into the garden, softly calling for Tony. Simon half-listens to Harriet, when he stops her and walks over the window. She follows him and they both see that Eleanor is outside in the garden. Harriet leaves the room, calling for Francoise and telling her where Eleanor is, while Simon continues watching from the window, smiling smugly.
Out in the garden, Eleanor, still trying to find her brother, rushes to a gate and stops, as she's now face-to-face with the figure. Able to see what he looks like, she's now sure he is Tony, and smiles happily. But then, she hears Francoise calling for her. She turns and looks, and when she turns her head back, the man has vanished. Distraught, she yells for Tony not to leave, when Francoise and Harriet find her. She becomes hysterical, screaming that they frightened Tony off and yells for them to leave her alone, but Harriet tells Francoise to take her back to her room and lock the door. As she's dragged away, Eleanor continues yelling that Tony was there, while Harriet closes the gate. Later, Francoise gives Eleanor some sleeping pills and leaves the room, getting no answer when she asks if she's now okay; once she's left alone, Eleanor quietly cries over what's happened. Francoise goes to her own room, where Simon is lying on the bed, waiting for her. It's then revealed that the two of them are involved with each other and that they've cooked up a plot to make Eleanor believe she's going insane. Simon thinks Eleanor's fainting in church was Francoise's doing, but when he realizes it wasn't, he begins to wonder if she really is mad. Brushing off Francoise's genuine concern for Eleanor's state of mind, he asks if she's free for the rest of the night, making her think the two of them are going to get intimate, only to tell her to sleep tight and gets off the bed with a cruel chuckle. He heads out the door, seeing Harriet walking up the stairs, and flings the door wide open as he walks away, leaving Francoise exposed in her undergarments in the brief moment before she shuts the door. After that comes the moment where Simon discovers they're out of brandy and very ferociously rants at Williams, the butler, about it, becoming more and more enraged until he's screaming at the top of his lungs and smashing glasses, the first sign at how dangerously unhinged he is (sadly, this scene was probably a typical Saturday night in Oliver Reed's actual life).
The man who Eleanor believed was Tony walks to the edge of a cliff overlooking the sea, which is fenced off by barbwire, when he looks down and sees Eleanor standing on a ledge farther down. Looking down at the crashing waves, Eleanor sobs and murmurs, "Dear God... please forgive me," before allowing herself to fall over the edge. The man rushes down to her aid as she hits the water below, and the film immediately cuts to the Ashby estate, where Williams answers the door upon hearing the bell ringing. He's surprised to see the man there, holding Eleanor in his arms, and is pushed aside, the man saying he'll take Eleanor to her room, asking, "It's still the same one?" He walks up the stairs and down the right hallway, Francoise emerging from Eleanor's room and motioning for him to carry her inside. The man then lays Eleanor down on her bed and backs away. Francoise asks what happened, but when she gets no response, she turns around and sees he's gone. Harriet and Williams enter the room, where Francoise tells Harriet that Eleanor's rescuer has left. Williams insists to Harriet, "It was him, Ms. Ashby, I'm sure of it," but Harriet tells him to stop being foolish and heads out of the room to find the man. Francoise then asks Williams who the man was and he says that it was the supposedly dead Tony Ashby. The man walks out the estate's front door and begins the long walk up the driveway. Simon comes roaring in crazily and has to swerve to avoid hitting the man, which causes him to crash into a piece of topiary. He angrily jumps out of the car, screaming at the man, and chases after him. He grabs him and turns him around, only to be taken aback when he gets a look at his face. Harriet demands the two of them come inside but, while the man complies, Simon, clearly shaken, gets back into his car, drives it off the topiary, sloppily puts it in reverse, and, ignoring Harriet's calls to him, drives back over the topiary and off the property. Harriet tells the young man she wants to talk him, instructing Williams to take him up to Simon's room in order to get him some dry clothes.
Once he's changed, the man is brought into Eleanor's room by Francoise, and while he doesn't answer her when she asks if he really is Tony, she takes him at face value and is happy her brother has returned. She gets him to promise to tell her everything later, as he now has to go downstairs and speak with Harriet. In the drawing room, the man begins passing himself off as Tony, saying he merely ran away rather than committed suicide, and that he did so because he couldn't stand having to be with Harriet any longer. Harriet, however, isn't convinced, and is angered when he says he isn't leaving until he finds out what she's done to Eleanor's state of mind. Simon then shows up and, much to Harriet's surprise, appears to also accept that the stranger is Tony and mentions the 600,000 pounds he's meant to inherit. He does admit that they don't know for sure but that, until they do, they might as well go the route of, "Innocent until proven guilty." Eleanor joins them as well and they prepare to have dinner. Later that night, Tony retrieves his baggage from the hotel he was staying at and returns to the estate to find Simon waiting for him. He tells him that they've put him in his old room and sends him on up, saying he's going to stay awake for a while. He watches the man closely as he walks up the stairs and to the hallway leading to the right, waving his fingers at him with an intense, disdainful expression on his face when he turns and looks at him. Heading down the hallway and coming to a spot where there are doors on all sides, Tony seems unsure of which one to go in, but then heads to the door to the right of the small flight of stairs heading to Eleanor's room, which turns out to be the right one. He turns and tells Simon, who's standing at the end of the hall, watching, "Good night, brother," before walking in and closing the door. He puts his satchel on the bed and walks over to a cabinet. Unable to open it, he reaches to the top of it and finds the key for it. He unlocks and looks at the number of young boys' clothes inside it.
Following Tony's interview with John Kossett, which Simon storms out of, feeling that Kossett is trying to cheat him out of his brother's share of the money because of his disdain for him, and the scene at a pub between Tony and Keith Kossett, where it's revealed he is, indeed, an imposter, Simon is shown getting extremely drunk at another pub. Guzzling down glass after glass of champagne while in the company of two women and a man, Simon makes a toast, his latest of many, to the return of his brother. By this point, he's so drunk he can barely take a drink without spilling it on his shirt, and he seems to think a man sitting at a table across the way, with his head down, is Tony. Noticing his "brother" isn't drinking, he grabs the bottle, lifts the man's head up, and literally starts pouring the champagne down his throat, as the man tries to tell him he isn't Tony. The man he was drinking with tries to stop him but Simon is beyond reason, and when the man tries to stop him again, Simon wheels around and shoves him against the bar, himself knocking on the wall behind him from the recoil. Glancing at a dartboard, he grabs all three of the darts stuck into it and approaches the man in a threatening manner, telling him he's going to rearrange his face with them. He lunges at him, but the man manages to dodge him, and when Simon turns around and tries to get at him again, another patron trips him, sending him to the floor. Laughing drunkenly, he slurs, "Come on, Tony. Let's go home," only to then say, "You're not Tony," and laughs harder at this before dropping his head back. Later, Tony has arrived to fetch Simon, and the man who runs the pub says that if Simon ever shows up again, he'll call the police. He also warns Tony that he'd better keep an eye on him, hinting that his behavior was more than just drunkenness. Simon drunkenly tells him, "That's right, Tony. You watch me. I'll watch you." On the way home, Simon admits that, while he's like Tony in every way, he doesn't believe he's actually him. When he asks him why, Simon responds, "Let's just call it a hunch," and that he'll never accept that he's wrong. Arriving back at the estate, the drunken Simon walks inside, admitting he's drunk to Harriet, and, standing on the stairs, bids everyone a good night, when he loses his balance and falls against the railing. Tony tries to help but Harriet doesn't let him, saying he's done enough already, and helps Simon up to his room herself. She leads him to his bed, lays him on it, and removes his tie before leaving the room. Simon laughs as he sits up and removes his suit jacket.
That night, Eleanor awakens to the distant sound of an organ, accompanied by a child singing. She gets out of bed, puts on her shoes, and drapes a coat over herself. At the same time, Tony, having heard it as well, heads downstairs to the foyer and walks up to one door he believes to be in the direction of the sound. He's startled when a nearby grandfather clock strikes 1:00 and then walks through an open doorway, down a corridor, and through a pair of double-doors that lead to a small alleyway in the back of the house. He walks a short distance and realizes the sound is coming from the family chapel, an old, rundown building right across the way. Seeing the door is ajar, he walks up to it and gently pushes it open, spotting a figure in a black hood and cloak sitting at the organ, playing. He doesn't get the chance to look at it for long, as he's suddenly attacked by a figure dressed in the gown of a choirboy, wearing a mask, and brandishing a hook. The figure lunges at Tony, forcing him to the ground as he tries to shield himself from the hook, and then comes back at him with it, cutting him in the arm, before fleeing. Tony jumps to his feet and rushes to the chapel's doorway, but when he flings the door open, he finds the figure playing the organ has now gone. Eleanor appears and, seeing the badly bleeding cut on Tony's arm, has him follow her back inside. Neither of them notice the chapel door slowly closing by itself. Inside, as Eleanor washes Tony's cut, he explains to her what happened, and despite her feeling otherwise, decides not to alert the police, saying he'd rather see what happens next. Eleanor then tells him that she's heard those same sounds before, but always thought they were just in her mind, as no one else seemed to hear them, and never had the courage to go investigate. Tony tells her to go back to her bedroom and take a sleeping pill. Before she leaves, he asks if she recognized the singing voice and she says it sounded like him when he was younger. The film then cuts to the garage, revealing Simon snapping a wire in the engine of one of the family cars, and after he puts his tools away, he sneers at the engine before closing it and heading out the door.
The next day, Tony and Eleanor are out on one of the seaside cliffs, having a picnic. Talking, he learns just how much her brother meant to her when he suggests that he might have changed and isn't the person she remembered, which she asks him not to even joke about. She goes on about how she now feels very content and peaceful, the same way she felt when Tony was around when they were younger. Feeling uncomfortable about what she's saying, Tony suggests they'd best get back home and starts putting away the picnic, while Eleanor goes to turn the car around. But, when she does and then puts the car in reverse, the brakes fail and the car goes over the edge of the cliff, only stopping when a coil of the barbwire fence gets snagged around the car's front. Eleanor screams for help and Tony tells her to stay still and switch off the engine. He grabs one of the fence's discarded posts and puts it between the car's fender and its body, temporarily securing it. But, as the car inches closer over the edge, the stress of the pulling causes that section of the ledge behind the post and under the car to split. Tony tells Eleanor to climb over the windshield, as he uses all of his strength to keep the post in place and stop the car from falling. She slowly and carefully climbs over the windshield and crawls across the car's front, managing to get off and onto solid ground right as everything gives way and the car goes tumbling down, crashing down below. Back at the Ashby estate, Francoise tries to get Simon to run away with her but he says there's no point, as he has no money. However, he tells Francoise that he knows Tony won't be staying around long... when he hears a car pull up outside and looks out the window. He seizes up when he sees Tony and Eleanor climb out of a taxi and, turning around, grabs the curtain and curls a section of it up around his face, sobbing in frustration and rage.
Late that night, Tony, again, hears the sound of the music and the boy singing in the chapel. Getting out of bed and putting on a robe, he walks out of his room, down the stairs to the foyer, and out the back door leading to the chapel. He's quickly followed by Eleanor, who catches up to him in the alley across from the chapel, and the two of them head to its door. Finding it's locked this time, Tony climbs up to where he can look through one of the windows, helping Eleanor up there as well. Looking through the window, they see that Simon is the one playing the organ, while the figure dressed up as a choirboy stands to his left. Though it seems as if the figure is the one singing, this proves to not be the case, as it's actually a recording being played on a nearby phonograph, which gets stuck at one point, forcing the figure to correct it. After seeing this, Tony climbs down from his perch outside the window but Eleanor stays there. The figure spots her from behind the mask and, grabbing the hook, heads outside very quietly, attempting to sneak up on her. But, just when the figure is almost on top of Eleanor, Tony jumps out, grabs it from behind, spins it around, and removes the mask, revealing it to Harriet. Later, back inside the house, Harriet makes a full confession, saying she attacked Tony the night before because she didn't want anyone to see Simon while he was in there, going on to describe how Simon is completely insane, has been ever since Tony's death, and whenever he has these onsets of madness, she has to take part in the bizarre and disturbing charade they witnessed. She also adds that Simon has been well enough for the last few years, but the arrival of the fake Tony has stirred everything up again, as Simon doesn't believe he's Tony. Harriet, again, says she doesn't believe it either, before storming out of the room and heading upstairs in despair. After she does, Francoise emerges from a door to the right of the stairs.
As Eleanor figures Simon's insanity doesn't appear to be dangerous, Tony tells her he believes Simon was the one who sabotaged the car. They then hear the sound of clattering footsteps and walk out into the foyer in time to see Francoise running upstairs. Eleanor tells him that Francoise loves Simon but Tony says it's her problem. They prepare to head back to bed, when a short sister-to-brother peck on the lips suddenly turns passionate, and Eleanor recoils in horror. Distraught and disgusted with herself, she runs back to her room and locks the door. Tony rushes after her but Eleanor hysterically yells for him to stay away, screaming, "I'm like Simon! I'm mad! I'm insane! I'm dirty! Dirty!" Breaking down in tears, Eleanor looks at her wrist and then at a pair of scissors next to her mirror. Tony smashes through the door and is able to stop Eleanor when she reaches for the scissors. Backing away, Eleanor again goes on about how she's just as insane as Simon, as she's in love with Tony, and that's when Tony sets her down and confesses that he isn't really her brother. Rather than expressing anger over his deceit, Eleanor embraces him and continues to cry. Outside, Francoise, carrying her suitcase, walks by the garden pond as she prepares to leave the property, when Simon appears and stops her. She tells him she knows he tried to kill Tony and Eleanor, noting how shocked he was when the two of them returned. Simon tries to seduce her but, initially, she resists, telling him it's over between them and that she'll tell people what she knows if he tries to stop her or comes after her. He mentions how who he is has never bothered her before and begins kissing her, which she finds unable to resist. He lowers her to the ground by the pond as they continue kissing passionately, telling her that he needs her and doesn't want her to leave. Having always wanted to hear him say that, Francoise promises she won't leave him and Simon responds, "I know you won't. I know you won't, my pretty." He then shoves her under the water, drowning her, and as he looks down on her from above the surface, he says, "Nobody ever leaves me," before grabbing a small pebble and tossing it into the water.
The next morning finds Simon lying back in a wicker deck chair, picking the petals off a flower, when Eleanor walks out. He tells her that Francoise left suddenly the night before without any message, and adds that Tony is gone momentarily as well. Eleanor asks if Tony said where he was going and Simon answers, "My dear child, does he ever confide in me?", before tossing away the flower and leaning back in the chair. Tony goes to John Kossett's office to find Keith rifling through his desk and says he came to warn him that he'd best cover up his embezzling and scam within twelve hours, adding that he doesn't think Tony Ashby drowned himself and that he knows where he actually is. Arriving back at the estate come nightfall, Tony tells Eleanor that the two of them are leaving that night and, though she doesn't know why he's made this decision or where they would be going, she decides to go along with him, regardless. He sends her up to her room to pack, while he heads back out to the chapel.
Finding the door locked again, Tony uses a crowbar to wrench it open and heads inside. Looking about the dark, murky place, he heads to the organ and lights up a lantern sitting on one of its arms. Harriet shows up, demanding he get out, but Tony stands his ground, saying he's looking for something. Harriet, angered when he hints that Simon has something to hide, lunges at Tony, attempting to strangle him, but he easily manages to overpower her, grabbing her wrists and pushing her away. A section of loose organ pipes in the wall behind him next to the organ falls open after he's been forced against them, revealing a hidden panel, and Harriet, defeated, walks out, asking him if he has to destroy everything in the end. Turning and spying the panel, Tony looks through it and then removes the pipes. Over time, he manages to break through a wall beyond the pipes and, when he peers inside, he's shocked when he sees the real Tony Ashby's mummified corpse in a space behind the wall. Simon shows up, accusing him of being too clever, but is confident that the imposter won't report what he's found, given the situation regarding the money. He confesses that he talked Tony into writing his own suicide note a couple of years before he killed him as part of a game, as well as admits that he knew his attempt to kill the imposter would likely kill Eleanor as well, commenting, "Two birds with one stone." The fake Tony heads for the door and Simon, grabbing a makeshift club, jumps in front of him, asking him where he's going. He calls his bluff when he alludes that he's going to tell people what's happened but the man says he doesn't care about the money anymore. Simon doesn't believe him, and when the man pushes past him, he swings around and smashes him on the back of the head, instantly knocking him out. Turning around, he walks back to where his brother is buried, crazily murmuring about how the imposter tried to fool everyone but that he knew the truth. He begins ripping away the rest of the wall, continuing his one-sided conversation with Tony.
While Eleanor waits for Tony up in her room, she hears the sound of the organ coming from the chapel and heads out the door. There, as Simon plays, with Tony's corpse sitting in a chair to the left of the organ, the man awakens to find himself tied to one of the building's pillars. Simon continues playing and tells him that he and Tony have decided he's to join him in death. Harriet, having heard the music, bursts through the door and, seeing what's happened, tells the imposter, "I told you you'd destroy everything, yourself as well." Gasping when she sees the corpse, she walks over to Simon and tries to get him to come away with her, but Simon says he must kill the imposter because he knows what he did to Tony. Harriet, again, tells Simon to leave, saying she'll take care of everything. Simon does as she says, walking out of the chapel and back to the house. Harriet walks to the doorway and turns and tells the imposter, "Simon belongs to me! No one shall hurt him!" She smashes the lantern on the floor, which instantly ignites all of the old wood in the place, and closes the door, heading back to the house. Unbeknownst to her, Eleanor emerges from the side of the chapel and goes through the door. She unties the imposter, stopping briefly when she's shocked upon seeing Tony's corpse, and the two of them head out the door. The imposter tells Eleanor that she's coming with him and they run for it. Simon, however, has seen that the chapel is in flames and has completely lost himself to the madness. He runs down the stairs, Harriet unable to stop him, and rushes back to the chapel, babbling about needing to "save Tony." Calling for his brother, he enters the burning building, fights his way past the flames, and grabs Tony's corpse. Cradling it, he tries to run back out, but is quickly overcome by the flames and collapses to the floor, the movie ending on the camera zooming in to a close-up of the two of them lying there, as the chapel burns around them.
Elisabeth Lutyens, who was notable for being the first female British film composer, did the music for Paranoiac, one of many films she scored for both Hammer and Amicus. The score tends to swing between two different moods: low-key and melancholic, just like the overall tone of the movie, as well as Eleanor's constantly depressed mindset, especially in the piece that plays during the opening credits, or loud, percussive, and threatening for the more tension-filled scenes (the sudden, freakish piece of music that plays when Tony is first attacked by the hook-wielding, masked figure makes it all the more startling). It's not a particularly memorable score but it is effective and fits the movie it's played against. Just as, if not more, affecting than the actual score is the combination of Simon playing the organ and the recording of young Tony singing Felix Mendelssohn's Hear My Prayer as a choirboy, the latter of which is so muted and muffled that you can't really make the words out at all, and the sound of it emitting from the chapel and traveling through the house in the stillness of the night is quite chilling.
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