[6]
Claude Dauphin stars as a race car driver who suffers from head trauma following a crash. The trauma is much more than physical, too — he has uncontrollable urges to strangle his new wife (Diane Cilento). While recuperating together in the south of France, the couple meet a psychiatrist (Ronald Lewis) willing to help Dauphin if he’ll agree to his unconventional methods.
Stop Me Before I Kill! is one of many competent psychological thrillers produced by Hammer Films in the ’60s. This one moves a tad sluggishly in the first half and a little too fast in the second, but three remarkable performances anchor it. Dauphin struggles at times, but does a commendable job with what must have been a very challenging role. His character is almost always in anguish, ashamed for having mental health problems beyond his control, and bouncing back and forth between loving his wife and feeling compelled to murder her. As his wife, Diane Cilento is a lively breath of fresh air. She also plays dueling objectives throughout the movie — trying to convince her husband that he is loved, while simultaneously growing to fear him. To this extent, the movie is an interesting essay on domestic violence. Ronald Lewis also gives a noteworthy performance as the psychiatrist, a compelling, avuncular character whose motives are in question, almost from the get-go.
Director Val Guest (Yesterday’s Enemy, The Abominable Snowman) knows when to let his actors own the moment, and when to lend directorial flourish to moments of heightened emotion. The final thirty minutes are full of fun narrative twists and turns, so much so that the film becomes overly-gimmicky, but far from boring. The location photography in coastal France makes for a pleasant backdrop, and Stanley Black’s score provides a cool, distinctly ’60s vibe.
With Francoise Rosay and Bernard Braden.