Paramount has a go at an old dark story but gives it first-rate treatment, with a decent budget and Ray Milland as star. This has a strong reputation and is certainly classy but it isn't that scary - certainly nowhere near the best of Val Lewton, or Universal around this time. So much of the script involves backstory of events that happened years ago which aren't really dramatised - most of the finale involves four actors sitting around chatting.
There are some effective moments, such as hearing the sobbing of the ghost, and Gail Russell's performance - all wide eyes and nerves. Cornelia Otis Skinner is fun as the creepy local shrink who has more than a whiff of a Mrs Danvers/Rebecca/lesbian type attachment to the ghost.
Ray Milland and Ruth Hussey are the the super close brother and sister who decide to buy the house; Hussey's character isn't really needed in the film when you think about it - her role could have been carried by Ray Milland. At least there is a strong female to counter balance nasty Skinner, the comic maid and helpless Russell. The doctor she romances is Alan Napier.
There are some interesting personal relationships, one or two effective moments, decent acting, but it was underwhelming.
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