It sort of feels that way to me right now having just finished watching it. How is it possible I have never heard anyone rave about this one? I really knew nothing about it going in except the cast and a brief synopsis and was emorously entertained throughout and the last section of the movie is brilliant. I am no stranger to Hammer but have never heard anyone talk this title up and it completely took me by surprise. If you love Hammer, this one is worth tracking down.

How would anyone ever see it? I never heard of it before stumbling across it in the Del Vecchios' Hammer book for McFarland a few years ago. I've never seen it broadcast on TV and I don't think it was ever released on VHS or DVD in the U.S. I'd like to see it though.

Here in Seattle, THE SNORKEL used to air on late-night television, back in the late sixties I think. I really enjoyed it, although it's primarily a crime caper flick. I really liked the juvie actress Mandy Miller, I think it was. Haven't seen the film since.

Never heard of this film at all, despite being a fairly well-informed Hammer fan. I haven't the slightest clue what it's about either. Good thing, otherwise I might feel left out, eh? ;)

John's threads here and at the Classic Horror boards have both left me blissfully ignorant. IMDB was no help either, save for the poster... which told me the movie involves swimming underwater (Jove! You don't say!) and that it's about...

"Teenage Girl Vs Killer With A Gimmick!"

What a premise! Never heard of a movie like that! :P

I think I was just so taken with the movie that I really did not want to post any mild spoilers. Jimmy Sangster shares screenplay credit and in a way , almost remade this with TASTE OF FEAR. There are several strong similarities.
I guess I should have known this was hard to find ( seeing as it was so unknown to me ). I stumbled across it on a bit torrent site but comments at IMDB indicate it pops up on Ebay. Maybe it's never been released to home video anywhere? Columbia is sitting on a gem here..I am going to e-mail TCM and see if they can get ahold of it as they brought out several Columbia Hammer Films last year. As John mentions, actress Mandy Miller is particularly good but the whole cast is excellent.
I almost posted this last night, it's the synopsis I read going into the viewing. While it seems to give most of the plot away it really only hints at it.

THE SNORKEL

Director: Guy Green

Cast: Peter Van Eyck, Betta St. John, Mandy Miller, Gregory Aslan, William Franklyn, Henry Vidon, Marie Burke, Irene Prador, Robert Rietty, Armand Guinie, David Ritch.

Synopsis: A man murders his wife and makes it appear to be a suicide. The daughter thinks that her step-father murdered her mother and begins to try and prove it. He decides that a second murder/suicide is in order.

edit
I went and requested at TCM and while there did a search for the movie and they have a page on it with an absolute complete blow by blow plot description that spoils everything in the movie. Avoid that well written but ruinous passge if you go browsing there.
It also mentions three run times, 73, 74 & 90 min ( I saw the 90 ) Must have been chopped to fit a 90 min slot with commercials alot back in it's TV run. It's hard to believe Columbia released MANIAC and CREAM OF FEAR on video but not this one.

Here is the poster

:o

Uh oh - Mortensen must be extending himself again... :ph43r:

. . . I saw this when it was first released in America as the second feature to some film or other (probably anoither Hammer movie) and remember it as being quite an excellent thriller - sorry to say, I have never run across it again . . . sadly, this one sits in the Columbia vault along with all of their other Hammer films . . .

Opps...meant to typo PASTE OF FEAR :blink:

Wade may have seen a double bill with CAMP ON BLOOD ISLAND. The Times reviewed the pair on Sept. 18, 1958. What's interesting about the review is that it confirms Columbia snipped 16 minutes out of the films for it's US run.
( 16 minutes!!! Almost as brutal as THESE ARE THE DAMMNED )
I wonder if the TV syndication prints were complete?

http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res...FBF668383649EDE

The soup of the day in Hell's Kitchen? :lol:

Not that it helps much now, but TNT did air THE SNORKEL at least once in the early 90s. It's never been released on home video in the US. It's a good film, though my fave Hammer thrillers are THE NANNY and MANIAC.

When I watched THE SNORKEL on late night TV back in the late sixties, I'm sure that it aired in a 90 minute time slot. That implies that the syndicated TV print was cut for length.