Blind Corner

BLIND COMFORT is an engaging little B-picture that acts as another version of the 'blind person in peril' sub-genre. It's a film that benefits from fine leading performances from William Sylvester - utterly convincing as the blind and embittered husband - and Barbara Shelley as his adulterous wife. As is so often the case with such films, Shelley is desperate to get her hands on her husband's fortune so concocts a murder plot with the aid of her lover.

Most of the film takes place in a single location, a lavish penthouse apartment with a balcony overlooking the city. I wonder if this was an inspiration for the recent B-movie PENTHOUSE NORTH which had almost exactly the same setting and was also about a blind person terrorised in her own home.

The script is well written and well paced, with plenty of material to fill up the running time. It manages to successfully pull the rug out from under the viewer's feet on at least one occasion, and even if you think you know how this one's going to play out, there are still surprises in store. I found that Sylvester gave a very sympathetic performance without ever overdoing the sentiment, while Shelley plays a very different kind of character from those we know in her Hammer pictures. I found her completely despicable, the most horrible character of her career. BLIND CORNER was directed by veteran director Lance Comfort, who would go on to direct Sylvester again in the following year's horror picture, DEVILS OF DARKNESS.