“Everyone’s willing to give you credit if they think you’ve got money.”
David Linton (Tony Wright) is an aspiring writer. He and his wife Jean (Patricia Dainton) are always broke and have a tendency to skip town whenever the rent it due. Jean inherits a house and some money from an aunt. With this windfall they are able to settle down and David has a place to work on his book. Mrs. O’Brien (Anita Sharp-Bolster) was the housekeeper for Jean’s aunt. She has agreed to stay on and work for Jean. Mrs. O’Brien relays to Jean the existence of a poltergeist that lives in the house. Mrs. O’Brien calls it Patrick after her husband since like her husband he is invisible and unpredictable.
Jean loves the house but David sees dollar signs and wants to sell it. A real estate man at the local pub offers six thousand pounds for it. Jean refuses to sell. David spends more time at the pub then at home writing his book. David becomes more annoyed at Jean for not wanting to sell and Jean becomes more disillusioned about her husband. They argue all the time. Every time they have a disagreement something happens. Something falls off the wall or ink ends up spilled on David’s manuscript. David dismisses Mrs. O’Brien’s tales of a poltergeist but Jean is not so sure. Jean is beginning to have a kinship with the house and the poltergeist.
David hires Valerie Stockley (Sandra Dorne) as a typist to type up his manuscript. They have an affair. When Jean finds out that David stole twenty pounds from her and gave it to Valerie she realizes what is going on. She confronts Valerie. Jean tells her that David doesn’t have any money and that the house is hers and she is not going to sell it. She tells Valerie to keep the twenty pounds and her husband and leaves.
Valerie gets really pissed at David and tells him that he is basically a looser and that the only way he’ll have anything is if he kills his wife to get it. David likes that idea. David devises a plan to kill Jean, however, it fails. It’s beginning to look like the house is working against him. In his next attempt David puts an overdose of sleeping pills in Jean’s milk. Each time she goes to take a sip a terrible clanking noise echoes through the house. Jean realizes that the house doesn’t want her to drink the milk.
“The House In Marsh Road” AKA “Invisible Creature” in the US, is a British thriller that was released in 1960 and was directed by Montgomery Tully. The film is based on a book by Laurence Meynell. This is one of those rare films that may be a little difficult to find.
Tony Wright’s character David does a good job at playing a jerk. Noticeably he accuses Jean of cheating when he is the one who is actually the cheater. Something to note, if your spouse accuses you of cheating, they are probably cheating themselves. He liked being the boss but since the inheritance he has lost control over his wife. He feels emasculated and he makes sure her life is miserable because of his immaturity. It’s like having a freeloader in your house that criticizes everything you do and then breaks your stuff.
The film is not really a horror movie or overly scary but it is nice little thriller that happens to have a ghost in it. It takes the basic plot of ‘woman in peril’ and instead of having a man come to the female’s rescue it’s an invisible friend. Having a poltergeist as the hero kicks it up a notch. Although I would have liked a little more ghost and a little less cheating husband.