Watch Strange Illusion (1945) Free Online

Release Date: 1945

Cast: Sally Eilers, Regis Toomey, Charles Arnt, Warren William, Jimmy Lydon

Categories: Movies, Crime Fiction, Thriller, Black-and-white, Mystery, Suspense, Film noir

Strange Illusion is a 1945 American film noir directed by Edgar G. Ulmer. According to noir historian Spencer Selby the film is, "A stylish cheapie by the recognized master of stylish cheapies." An adolescent believes that his widowed mother's suitor may have murdered his father. Film critic Dennis Schwartz gave the film a mixed review, yet liked the atmospherics of the film, and wrote, "The dark psychological thriller had an engrossing premise courtesy of Mr. Shakespeare and was influenced further by Freudian dream analysis, but it was unconvincing as a melodrama, the script was weak, the... MORE

Strange Illusion is a 1945 American film noir directed by Edgar G. Ulmer. According to noir historian Spencer Selby the film is, "A stylish cheapie by the recognized master of stylish cheapies." An adolescent believes that his widowed mother's suitor may have murdered his father. Film critic Dennis Schwartz gave the film a mixed review, yet liked the atmospherics of the film, and wrote, "The dark psychological thriller had an engrossing premise courtesy of Mr. Shakespeare and was influenced further by Freudian dream analysis, but it was unconvincing as a melodrama, the script was weak, the plot was full of holes and the acting was as lame as it gets...What's interesting is that the film is shot as an intense dream sequence in shadowy black-and-white hues and its sense of delirium powerfully filters through the story almost wiping away the unconvincing heavy-handed performances of the villains and the mummified acting by the leads. It's a film where Ulmer's unique style and his film noir moody interjections work better than the deviative mystery story." Critic Matthew Sorrento of Film Threat also lauded the film: "Though saddled with the script’s fetish for Freud, Ulmer stylizes his LESS