| The Strange Awakening | |
| Director: | Montgomery Tully |
| Producer: | Alec C. Snowden |
| Screenplay: | J. McLaren Ross |
| Based On: | novel Puzzle for Fiends by Hugh Wheeler (as Patrick Quentin)[1] |
| Starring: | Lex Barker Carole Mathews Lisa Gastoni Peter Dyneley |
| Music: | Richard Taylor |
| Cinematography: | Philip Grindrod |
| Editing: | Geoffrey Muller |
| Studio: | Merton Park Studios |
| Distributor: | Cinema Associates |
| Runtime: | 79 minutes |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Language: | English |
The Strange Awakening (U.S. title: Female Fiends) is a 1958 British second feature[2] film directed by Montgomery Tully and starring Lex Barker and Carole Mathews.[3] It was written by J. McLaren Ross based on the 1946 novel Puzzle for Fiends by Hugh Wheeler (as Patrick Quentin).
Motoring in the South of France, Peter Chance picks up a hitchhiker, and is attacked and left unconscious. Awaking in a villa with no memory of his identity, he is told by a woman claiming to be his mother that he is the heir to a fortune. When police investigate the death of his "father" Chance becomes suspicious and starts to investigate.
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "A summary of the plot does not do justice to this gripping version of the amnesia theme. The modest production successfully creates an atmosphere and the acting, though unremarkable, is always competent. A good 'B' melodrama."[4]
In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "good", writing: "Genuinely atmospheric suspense film."[5]