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Poster for House by the River

House by the River

WOMEN SPOKE OF HER with Scorn...MEN THOUGHT OF HER with Longing!

1950 · 1h 28m · APPROVED Crime, Drama, Thriller
Directed by Fritz Lang

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Overview

Wealthy writer Stephen Byrne tries to seduce the family maid, but when she resists, he kills her. Long jealous of his brother John, Stephen does his best to pin the blame for the murder on his sibling. Also affected by Stephen's arrogant dementia is his long-suffering wife Marjorie.

Director and cast

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes

Top critics, in their words

All reviews
62%
Tomatometer
Fresh

Its 85 minutes stuffed with shadowy menace, odd magical-realisms (what is it with the jumping fish?), and effortless tension, House by the River is quintessential Lang.

Michael Atkinson, Village Voice
Rotten

House by the River is a fair mystery which lacks sufficient plot twists and suspense.

Variety Staff, Variety
Rotten

It's a bleak, gloomy film, one in which the psychological undercurrents seem to be flooding over the banks, drowning any fleeting vestige of rationality in a perverse Teutonic romanticism.

Tom Charity, Time Out
Rotten

Full of Victorian adornments, shadowy lighting and morbid moods, it is a desperate attempt to raise goose-flesh with a standard horror-psychological plot.

Bosley Crowther, New York Times

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