Dirty, grimy, low-down suspense doesn't get much better than Lady in a Cage, the low-budget suspense movie that takes nods from Alfred Hitchcock and even Tennessee Williams. Olivia de Havilland found her career winding down by 1964, but this film stands as evidence that she still had a great performance in her. She plays a wealthy widow recovering from a hip operation. Not wanting to have to bother with stairs, she's installed an elevator in the middle of her house. But her latest contraption serves as a trap when the power goes out and she's stuck between floors - giving her a bird's eye view of the ransacking of her home by hoodlums who break in, searching for money and booze.

It's a pretty sordid world view, made all the more harrowing by the performances of her vicious tormentors, led by a young James Caan in his big-screen debut. The wondrous opening credit sequence alone is worth the price of renting this recently released DVD - a must in any serious horror/suspense buff's library. » Matthew Hays