10-14-2011, 06:05 AM
This book was published in 1933 as "Some must watch", but the film that was based on it was called "The spiral staircase", and probably more people will be familiar with the movie title.
I've seen the movie several times and was looking forward to reading the original story. Somehow I always expect the book to be better than the movie, but that isn't always the case. I was very surprised to find out that Helen Capel wasn't mute in the book at all! The script writers took the basic ingredients, added some and left some, and created a much better story.
The book isn't bad, though. There's a murderer on the loose and Helen runs around a house where the other residents disappear one by one for some reason, and soon there's nobody left to protect her.
I think the movie is better, more gothic and more plausible than the book. If there hadn't been a better movie to compare it with, I might have given it a higher rating, now it's no more than a 6 out of 10.
I've seen the movie several times and was looking forward to reading the original story. Somehow I always expect the book to be better than the movie, but that isn't always the case. I was very surprised to find out that Helen Capel wasn't mute in the book at all! The script writers took the basic ingredients, added some and left some, and created a much better story.
The book isn't bad, though. There's a murderer on the loose and Helen runs around a house where the other residents disappear one by one for some reason, and soon there's nobody left to protect her.
I think the movie is better, more gothic and more plausible than the book. If there hadn't been a better movie to compare it with, I might have given it a higher rating, now it's no more than a 6 out of 10.