Based on the British radio series Appointment with Fear and one of Hammer's earliest ventures into horror, albeit as a film noir thriller, smoking and murder are the order of the day with The Man in Black. Despite all its creaks and groans of cliché, the film remains a thoroughly entertaining watch, filled with spooky kitchen sink melodrama and enjoyable performances. The direction by Francis Searle is adequately engaging, with plenty of moody images which bolster the otherwise notably cheap production and relatively straight-laced script. The interplay between Betty Ann Davies and Sheila Burrell makes up the heart of this film's runtime, and they achieve some sinister moments, yet can also be very funny together, managing to be both repellently toxic and beguilingly seductive at the same time. We are also treated to some prime Sid James in one of his earliest film roles, long before his part in the Carry On ensemble. Here, he plays a serious and quite sober role with conviction, even going as far as to play a dual role, something he does with perfect competence. There are a couple of interesting twists and turns to The Man in Black, but this isn't a classic for a reason; the titular character plays no real part in the narrative, and we don't even see him on screen again after the opening credits end but the film keeps up a relatively breezy pace to the point where, if you're engaging with it, you'll scarcely notice.
