Now here’s a rarity: this is a Swedish poster (the only one I own) for this 1946 film noir.

I have this poster up for sale here, but if nobody buys it soon I may opt to hold onto it and get it framed. I really like the very graphic visual, which I think captures the essence of noir very well. As I am in the process of building up a ‘noir-inspired’ poster corner in my house I might opt to include this one there if it does not sell.

I must admit, however, I only saw The Spiral Staircase for the very first time just today! In my University Film Studies course, I took a really interesting module in Film Noir – which ended up being a great way of spending afternoons, watching many classic black and white movies in the lecture theatre, but it did not include this one.

I found it on YouTube here and watched it while trialling my new exercise bike this morning. It is a decent enough B-movie psychological thriller about a serial killer who targets disabled women, including the mute heroine.

It was directed with some stylish touches by German emigre Robert Siodmak, who also brought us noir classic The Killers (his next movie, in fact), starring Burt Lancaster. Elsa Lanchester, the Bride of Frankenstein herself, also features in a supporting role.

The Spiral Staircase has been called a horror/noir cross-over and also an early example of the slasher movie.  I guess it is technically, although don’t watch it expecting much in the way of direct influence to Jason/Michael Myers, it is all rather sedate!