This 1945 gem was made independently but distributed through Republic Pictures. Nancy Kelly stars as the title character, a woman who comes back to a sleepy New England town to find things quite unsettling.
First, I should provide a bit of background on the character she plays, as well as the other inhabitants of Eben Rock. She left the area when she was younger and is now going back on a bus. Sitting next to her is an elderly woman also from the same town. They talk about the people of Eben Rock. The old hag seems somewhat superstitious and might even be a supernatural manifestation of the evil that happened there in the past.
Their conversation is interrupted when the bus careens off the road during a storm and plunges into an icy river. Members of the local community rush to the site of the crash, and it is quickly learned there were no survivors, except Kelly. She has a sketchy memory of the crash and cannot provide many substantial details. She does remember the old woman and describes her, but no such person is listed as having been on the bus.
As the story continues, strange things occur. Local townsfolk accuse her of being a witch, and she begins to wonder if it's all connected to the woman she met on the bus. The writers are careful not to make it too hokey, but there are suggestions that either the hag has cast a spell on her, or that she is the old woman reincarnated and that she had seen a part of herself on the bus. It's all rather thought-provoking and Nancy Kelly does a great job conveying the terror that increases inside her, when she starts to believe as others do that she's really a witch.
Of course, there's a love story too, when one of the men in town has fallen for her. He doesn't believe she's a danger to anyone, only to herself if she keeps behaving this way. The love interest is played by John Loder, and he turns in a subtle performance, wisely letting his costar drive the film's narrative forward.
By the time it all ends, answers have been provided that explain the disappearance of the old woman. And our heroine seems to regain her sanity. But this is no dream, and it's not explained away as anyone's fanciful imagination. She really does seem to have been possessed.
The new love she's found with Loder gives us an idea of what was missing when she began to doubt her own basic goodness. It's too bad there wasn't a sequel with her giving birth to a daughter who dealt with the same issues. But at least it ends happily and she doesn't self-destruct.
First, I should provide a bit of background on the character she plays, as well as the other inhabitants of Eben Rock. She left the area when she was younger and is now going back on a bus. Sitting next to her is an elderly woman also from the same town. They talk about the people of Eben Rock. The old hag seems somewhat superstitious and might even be a supernatural manifestation of the evil that happened there in the past.
Their conversation is interrupted when the bus careens off the road during a storm and plunges into an icy river. Members of the local community rush to the site of the crash, and it is quickly learned there were no survivors, except Kelly. She has a sketchy memory of the crash and cannot provide many substantial details. She does remember the old woman and describes her, but no such person is listed as having been on the bus.
As the story continues, strange things occur. Local townsfolk accuse her of being a witch, and she begins to wonder if it's all connected to the woman she met on the bus. The writers are careful not to make it too hokey, but there are suggestions that either the hag has cast a spell on her, or that she is the old woman reincarnated and that she had seen a part of herself on the bus. It's all rather thought-provoking and Nancy Kelly does a great job conveying the terror that increases inside her, when she starts to believe as others do that she's really a witch.
Of course, there's a love story too, when one of the men in town has fallen for her. He doesn't believe she's a danger to anyone, only to herself if she keeps behaving this way. The love interest is played by John Loder, and he turns in a subtle performance, wisely letting his costar drive the film's narrative forward.
By the time it all ends, answers have been provided that explain the disappearance of the old woman. And our heroine seems to regain her sanity. But this is no dream, and it's not explained away as anyone's fanciful imagination. She really does seem to have been possessed.
The new love she's found with Loder gives us an idea of what was missing when she began to doubt her own basic goodness. It's too bad there wasn't a sequel with her giving birth to a daughter who dealt with the same issues. But at least it ends happily and she doesn't self-destruct.