An attractive young woman named Scotty (Rebecca Balding, from The Boogens) decides to take a room in a boarding house by the beach run by Mrs. Engels (De Carlo) and her shy son Mason (Rearden).

She'll be in good company. There's three other college students also renting rooms in the place, including likable Doris (Andelman) and handsome Jack (Doubet).

Some chummy friends? A place by the sea? Reasonable rent? What's not to like?

There's only one small problem. There's a deranged and psychotic woman (Steele) being kept alive in the upstairs attic. And soon Scotty's friends are disappearing one by one!

What secrets from the past could the family be hiding? How much needless blood will be shed before the truth is revealed?

Barbara Steele is quite good in one of her sporadic returns to the genre she had a formidable hand in building. And it's always nice to see Yvonne De Carlo and Cameron Mitchell in action. Well, not together necessarily.

The offbeat cast really makes things work here (especially Balding as the spunky little heroine). And there are some delightful Hitchcockian touches throughout which make this recommended viewing.