The Haunted Strangler

The Haunted Strangler (also known as Grip of the Strangler and originally titled The Judas Hole) was a 1958 British horror film directed by Robert Day. It was adapted from "Stranglehold," a story which screenwriter Jan Read had written specially for Boris Karloff, and was shot back to back with producer Richard Gordon's Fiend Without a Face, with both later being released as a double bill by MGM.

Cancan sequence
Loosely based around the Whitechapel murders of the 1880s (with a dash of Jekyll & Hyde thrown in for good measure), the movie contains two extended cancan sequences set in a Victorian music hall. Like Jimmy Sangster's Jack the Ripper (American International, 1959), the film was shot in black & white and contains virtuoso performances by professional dancers. According to some sources, the cancan sequences were choreographed by Joan Murray, a former Windmill Theatre alumnus. The girls' outfits include frilly white knickers beneath thickly layered petticoats, providing the audience a generous view of their thighs, garters and black suspender stocking tops. The two routines last a total of five minutes and feature some of the best performances ever committed to film.

External Link

 * Cancan scene on Youtube.