Tonight's Movie: Step Down to Terror (1958) - A Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review

I had no idea that Alfred Hitchcock's SHADOW OF A DOUBT (1943) was remade 15 years later.

That film, STEP DOWN TO TERROR (1958), was released as part of the Kino Lorber Dark Side of Cinema XIII collection. Also in the set are SPY HUNT (1950), which I reviewed last month, and THE NIGHT RUNNER (1957), which I'll be reviewing here in the future.

I recently saw SHADOW OF A DOUBT in April at the TCM Classic Film Festival, so that worked well for me to be able to compare the two movies, which are each based on a story by Gordon McDonnel.

Both films focus on a long-lost relative who returns to his small town. In the case of STEP DOWN TO TERROR, the relative is Johnny Walters (Charles Drake), who returns home to his mother (Josephine Hutchinson), widowed sister-in-law Helen (Colleen Miller of PLAYGIRL and FOUR GUNS TO THE BORDER), and Helen's little boy Doug (Rickey Kelman).

Larry ingratiates himself with his family, who are initially thrilled by his return, but before long his erratic behavior has them puzzled. And then a handsome journalist, Mike (Rod Taylor), shows up at the family home asking questions...

STEP DOWN TO TERROR lacks the scripting talent of the Hitchcock classic, which was written by Thornton Wilder, Sally Benson, and Alma Reville Hitchcock. This version, also by a trio of writers, is far shorter, running just 76 minutes to the original's 108; with its abridged storyline, it almost feels like a 1950s Lux Video Theatre remake.

I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed STEP DOWN TO TERROR. To be sure, it cannot compare with SHADOW OF A DOUBT, which is one of my very favorite Hitchcock films, but while no classic, STEP DOWN TO TERROR is still quite entertaining in its own way. They had me at Rod Taylor!

I enjoyed seeing how the filmmakers did a slightly different spin on the well-known story, with Larry a potential romantic interest for Helen rather than her uncle; other aspects are very much the same. Anyone familiar with SHADOW OF A DOUBT will recognize plot points such as Helen's late-night run to the library or the broken exterior staircase.

Taylor successfully conveys his attraction to Helen in relatively few screen minutes, and I always enjoy seeing Colleen Miller. (I was fortunate to see her in person at a Noir City Festival a few years ago.) Drake is convincing as the weirdo relative.

The cast also includes Jocelyn Brando, Ann Doran, and Alan Dexter. Harry Keller directed, with black and white widescreen photography by Russell Metty.

Metty's cinematography here is fairly run of the mill, but the Kino Lorber print is excellent, as is the sound quality.

Extras consist of the trailer; two additional trailers for other films available from Kino Lorber; and a commentary track by Bryan Reesman and Max Evry. That should be quite interesting, given this film's source material.

I love that despite how many years I've watched classic films, there are always new things to discover; I was fascinated that SHADOW OF A DOUBT had been remade.

As I also liked SPY HUNT, I recommend this set -- but then, I don't think I've seen a Dark Side of Cinema set I haven't loved!

Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray collection.

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