Young, attractive American music student Susan Roberts arrives at the sprawling French countryside villa of the late, renowned composer Henry Ryman, on whom she is writing her thesis. She’s warmly welcomed by his widow Danielle, who lives there alongside her wheelchair-bound son Georges, snarky maid Lilliane, and stern butler Carter. As her stay progresses, things take on a sinister tone: late at night, the deceased composer's music fills the air, played by an unseen pianist, and Danielle seems oddly intent on Susan wearing the clothes of Georges’ former girlfriend Catherine, with whom the student bears a striking resemblance. As the mysteries mount, Susan is torn between her growing attachment to Georges and the looming realization that this eccentric household harbors dark secrets—secrets that may threaten her very life.
Hailing from Britain’s legendary Hammer Film Productions and emerging during the tail end of the company’s golden age, 1970’s CRESCENDO - directed by Alan Gibson, who would go on to helm Dracula A.D. 1972 and The Satanic Rites of Dracula - is a gripping, slow-burn psychological thriller brimming with sexual energy and culminating in a shocking, fever-pitch climax befitting its title. Co-written by Jimmy Sangster (The Curse of Frankenstein, Dracula) and Alfred Shaughnessy (The Flesh and Blood Show), it stars Stefanie Powers (Fanatic), Jane Lapotaire (The Asphyx), James Olson (The Andromeda Strain), and Joss Ackland (Penny Gold). Vinegar Syndrome is thrilled to orchestrate the release of this underseen Hammer outing, newly restored for its Blu-ray world premiere and accompanied by a symphony of brand new bonus features.
