William Cameron Menzies (1896–1957)

For most of its runtime "The Maze" is a creepily effective little horror mystery that is, unfortunately totally undermined by a shockingly odd and totally ineffective denouement. The film opens with Gerald MacTeam (Richard Carlson) and fiancée Kitty Murray (Veronica Hurst) enjoying a holiday ahead of their impending wedding. Gerald gets news of the death of his uncle and has to return to the ancestral home, Craven Castle, deep in the remote Scottish highlands. After weeks pass with no word from Gerald, Kitty and her aunt Edith (Katherine Emery) decide to travel to Scotland to find an answer to Gerald's disappearance. They discover a gloomy, fog-shrouded castle and Gerald a broken and aged man, unwilling to tell them anything about his new life. Kitty comes to the conclusion that the mysterious maze in the castle grounds may hold a clue to the mystery? "The Maze" is a strangely off-centre mystery that is full of well-constructed atmospherics and weird design. Director William Cameron Menzies delivers some eerie Gothic stylings with plenty of mist-shrouded exteriors and deep lurking shadows. The interiors are all bleak staircases, uninviting corridors, cobweb strewn secret passageways, creepy servants and flickering candlelit shadows. Menzies imbues this part of the film with a genuine sense of mystery and a real feel for the weird. The ending of the film, however, undermines all that goes before with a preposterous and unforgettable finale that is as senseless as it is laughable.… (more)

Classic 1950's B sci-fi! Re-runs used to scare me to death as a kid. (Did it stop me from watching it? No!) But having recently watched it as an adult, I noticed the 'hoard' of aliens were the same three guys zipping back and forth in the same tunnel which purported to be an underground 'complex of tunnels.' And don't forget that 'mutants' should be pronounced 'Mew-Tants' with equal emphasis on both syllables :-) The magic is gone when you spot the zippers in the alien costumes. Ah, but the memories... surreptitiously checking the back of my parent's necks for 'The Alien Mark!' I'm not even sure kids today would be scared by it but give it a try. Definitely has the feel of a cult classic :-)… (more)