Step Down to Terror

1958

Crime / Drama / Film-Noir / Thriller

3
IMDb Rating 6.1/10 10 421 421

on the run

Plot summary

Pursued by detectives, Johnny Walters leaves the city to visit his family in a small California town. Among the household: his dead brother's luscious widow Helen, who soon is attracted to him. Ominous events and conflicting evidence leave Helen suspicious, but uncertain about her brother-in-law as tension builds...

Director

Harry Keller Photo
Harry Keller

Top cast

Ann Doran Photo
Ann Doran as Mrs. Duprez
Harold Goodwin Photo
Harold Goodwin as Man with Dog
Josephine Hutchinson Photo
Josephine Hutchinson as Sarah Walters
Helen Bennett Photo
Helen Bennett as Mrs. Dunwiddy
720p.BluRay 1080p.BluRay
699.3 MB
1280*692
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
24 fps
1 hr 16 min
Seeds ...
1.27 GB
1920*1038
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
24 fps
1 hr 16 min
Seeds ...

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by robert-temple 6 / 10

Reprise on Hitchcock

This film noir has essentially the same story as Alfred Hitchcock's famous film of 15 years previously, A SHADOW OF A DOUBT (1943). According to the IMDb entry for Gordon McDonell, he was a writer for both films, though he does not actually appear in the IMDb listing for the Hitchcock film. There are considerable differences between the films. In this one, the happy family has a young son, played by Rickey Kelman. But the Hitchcock film's happy family had a daughter, played by Theresa Wright, who was well known by that time and much older than Kelman. The story in both cases involves the uncle of the children turning up unexpectedly at the family home to stay with them for a prolonged period. The children in both stories have never seen him before, as he is the brother of their deceased father who had been out of touch with everyone for years. The uncle is very handsome and charming and an interesting and well-travelled person. So at first everyone is thrilled. But there is a slight problem: he is psychopathic killer on the run, hence really hiding out with the family. Naturally, the Hitchcock film is superior, in which the uncle is played by Joseph Cotton. But in this film he is played very well indeed by the less well known Charles Drake, perhaps even in some ways more convincingly. The title chosen for this film is rather silly, though it does refer to one minor detail in the story. Rod Taylor makes a significant appearance in the film at an early stage of his career, aged 28, and does very well. The film is certainly effective and is not just a pale copy of the Hitchcock film.
Reviewed by gridoon2025 6 / 10

Inferior but watchable remake of "Shadow Of A Doubt"

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