Bedlam is an odd and interesting film. Anna Lee is Nell, a witty young woman who functions as a sort of court jester for a noble. She is goaded into visiting Bedlam, an insane asylum that holds tours so the rich can laugh at the insane.
Nell affects the air of a cynical, frivolous wit, but she is disturbed by the treatment of the inmates at the hands of Boris Karloff's psychopathic George Sims.
Karloff and Lee are both terrific, and the atmosphere is beautifully created, both in the lush homes of the elite and in the chaotic Bedlam. While producer Val Lewton was known as a horror movie producer, his movies were always more complex than that, and this is a movie of psychological horror.
The story is compelling and the movie does a good job of showing the power of both hate and love to affect people.
Nell affects the air of a cynical, frivolous wit, but she is disturbed by the treatment of the inmates at the hands of Boris Karloff's psychopathic George Sims.
Karloff and Lee are both terrific, and the atmosphere is beautifully created, both in the lush homes of the elite and in the chaotic Bedlam. While producer Val Lewton was known as a horror movie producer, his movies were always more complex than that, and this is a movie of psychological horror.
The story is compelling and the movie does a good job of showing the power of both hate and love to affect people.