Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.0

Tormented Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 9, 2024

Some of the supplements on this disc make some passing comparisons between the venerable Bert I. Gordon and Roger Corman, though within the context of Gordon never quite achieving the fame and fortune that Corman did, and that comparison may be an especially good reference point with regard to Tormented in particular since, unlike many of Gordon's "giant monster" movies, Tormented is actually a kinda sorta reworking of an Edgar Allan Poe tale. And in fact "tale" is a salient term, since the Poe short story in question is The Tell Tale Heart, which considering both its brevity and first person conceit might make it a prickly adaptation project for a feature length film. That may explain why there are curiously few cinematic treatments of Poe's story, though there have been a few at least tangentially related to the source material, including 1960's The Tell-Tale Heart. This 1960 film takes the basic concept of a "guilty conscience" manifesting in any number of auditory (and in this case, visual) hallucinations, but rather interestingly the "murder" in this version isn't the "traditional" type, in that the perceived culprit doesn't actually personally kill his victim, he simply fails to save her from a precarious situation which results in her death.

Tom Stewart (Richard Carlson) is an aspiring jazz musician who seems to either live in a lighthouse, or is at least able to visit it regularly, and the first scene documents a showdown of sorts between Tom and his erstwhile main squeeze, a voluptuous if scheming woman named Vi Mason (Juli Reding). Tom is trying to get it through Vi's thick if gorgeous head that he's planning on marrying wealthy Meg Hubbard (Lugene Sanders), but Vi is having none of it, threatening to somehow blackmail Tom with letters he sent to her (i.e., Vi) when they were dating. When Vi unwisely leans back on a railing surrounding the lighthouse's catwalk, the railing breaks, and Vi is left hanging around (sorry), at least until she plummets to her death. Already there are some significant changes to Poe's formulation, not to state the obvious. First is the fact that the victim in this case is a female, and second is the fact that, unlike the disfigured but basically harmless old man victim in Poe's story, Vi is kind of a "rhymes with witch", meaning there's a certain comeuppance factor when she meets her fate.

Those variances aside, the rest of the film features some fun if goofy special effects as Tom begins to hallucinate (or does he?), with apparations of Vi appearing all over the place. In the meantime, Meg is trying to calm Tom down to fitful effect, and even Meg's sweet little sister Sandy (Susan Gordon, daughter of Bert and Flora) gets swept up in the maelstrom as Tom goes further and further down a guilt ridden spiral of fear. The film has some genuine moments of angst, especially when Tom turns his addled murderous sights on little Sandy, but the film's conceit is probably too downright silly to generate consistent fear. Performances are generally fine, if a bit on the hammy side at times (I'm looking at you, Joe Turkel), but this is a really fun effort from the Gordon family, and it provides Susan Gordon with a real showcase.

Tormented Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Tormented is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Film Masters with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. There's no real technical information imparted on the cover or in the insert booklet, but this is by and large another rather winning restoration by Film Masters, though my hunch is it was probably not sourced from a negative (if anyone has authoritative information, private message me and I'll happily update things here). Detail levels are quite pleasing throughout, though a number of the outdoor scenes with wider framings can have slight fuzziness and resultant lack of fine detail. There are a number of obviously composited special effects, and while grain is in evidence and gives things a generally cohesive organic appearance, there really aren't huge spikes during these effects moments, which may suggest some "grain management". Contrast is generally okay if not completely stellar, and I personally found some of this transfer to be a bit on the dark side. There are some minor signs of age related wear and tear, but nothing of any serious import.

Tormented Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Tormented features a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono track that offers fine support for the film's dialogue, sometimes funny sound effects and a score by Albert Glasser and Calvin Jackson that this aspiring jazz musician wouldn't necessarily classify as "jazz". The ambient sound effects beachside can be just slightly boxy sounding, but are decently resonant. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Tormented Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Mystery Science Theater 3000 version of Tormented (1992) (HD; 1:31:42) is typically snarky and occasionally funny, but I'd argue as goofy as Tormented undeniably is, it's not as goofy as many of the other targets MST3K has skewered over the years.


• Bert I. Gordon: The Amazing Colossal Filmmaker (HD; 7:52) is an archival interview with Gordon.


• Bigger than Life: Bert I. Gordon in the 1950's and 1960's (HD; 39:25) is a fun overview of Gordon's career during these decades. C. Courtney Joyner is once again on hand offering his thoughts.


• The Spirit is Willing (HD; 20:13) is an interesting visual essay by The Flying Maciste Brothers which covers "cinemagic and social discord".


• Famous Ghost Stories Unaired Pilot (HD; 4:14) is actually just a snippet and stems from a proposed 1961 project by Gordon featuring Vincent Price.


• Original 1960 raw 35mm Tormented Trailer (HD; 2:11)


• 2024 re-cut Tormented Trailer (HD; 2:01)


• Commentary for Tormented features Gary Rhodes and Larry Blamire and is accessible under the Setup Menu.

Additionally, Film Masters provides a nicely appointed insert booklet with some great writing by Tom Weaver and John Wooley. Wooley's reminiscence of Susan Gordon was especially meaningful to me (see my closing comments below).

Tormented Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I had the distinct pleasure and privilege of getting to know Susan Gordon for several years before her extremely untimely death in 2011 (Susan sadly pre-deceased both of her parents). Susan was an absolute sweetheart of a woman who was actually interested in making her musical theater stage debut in a show I had written, but who also evidently decided I "needed" to be on a macrobiotic diet (something she subscribed to, almost religiously), and so would phone me virtually nightly to get an account of what I had eaten that day (suffice it to say my love of tomatoes made macrobiotic-ism untenable for me). That made viewing this weird film on the bittersweet side for me, but it's arguable that Susan is the highlight of the film, offering a natural and winning performance as a little girl who is swept up into a madman's guilt fueled plotting. This is a rather unusual outing for Bert I. Gordon, but it may be of interest for that very fact alone, even if this is manifestly not a "giant monster" (and/or giant human) outing. Technical merits are generally solid and this disc features some really appealing supplements, for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.