“Why do you Americans always answer questions with questions of their own?”

It's another of the Hammer "They're trying to drive me MAD!" black and white thriller stable. Maniac doesn't work as well as the others - possibly because it's the first, perhaps because it's a bit too unbelievable. 

A young French girl is attacked as she makes her way home - and dad extracts a terrible revenge on her attacker involving an oxy-acetylene blowtorch.

Jump forward four years and the girl is working in her stepmother's bar - dad having been put in the local asylum for his non-metal welding hi-jinks. Enter a "young" American on a tour of Europe, who is on the rebound from splitting up with his rich girlfriend. He immediately falls for the girl, but ends up with her stepmum. Within five minutes he's calling her "darling" and agreeing to free her banged-up hubby from the asylum (which handily, is practically next door to the bar). Like you do.

Of course, that's only the start of the typical twists and turns - once he's escaped, it turns out Papa really is insane - or is he? Does he want to kill the American? Is anyone following this? Is there a script, or is this film just a series of escalating shocks? I'll let you find out.