Astonishingly good Val Lewton film, perhaps the pinnacle of the series achievement. Kim Hunter is a little bland but in a way very well cast as the young innocent who goes to New York to find her sister. The result is a rich, complex work with much to admire: the apperance of creepy shrink Tom Conway (good or evil?), his relationship with the balding skinny poet guy, the boyfriend of her sister, her wild sister who has bitten off more than she can chew, the seeming lesbian relationship with one of the devil worshippers, the calm devil worshippers who are anti-violence yet encourage traitors to kill themselves, the shock ending (which seems a bit abrupt - pay attention).
Many fine sequences: the creepy room with the noose, the murder of the detective, the meetings of the society, the shower scene (years before Psycho). It feels a little cut-about (the original script is here) but a wonderful film.
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