Dark Intruder (1965)

Set in 1890 San Francisco, a playboy sleuth and occult expert (Leslie Nielsen) helps the police investigate a series of ritual killings. All of the victims knew each other and had something in common. Directed by Harvey Hart (FORTUNE AND MEN'S EYES), this was originally a television pilot that wasn't picked up. Deemed too violent for TV audiences, Universal released it theatrically on the bottom half of a double bill with I SAW WHAT YOU DID. Clearly a homage to Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes with its period setting and Nielsen's detective even dresses in disguises. A dwarf servant (Charles Bolender) serves as the equivalent of Dr. Watson. As for the production itself, many have fond memories of it from late night TV showings in the 1970s. The film can't hide its TV origins, it looks like a TV show filmed on the Universal backlot but it's no worse than many of the B horror programmers released in the 1940s like the Inner Sanctum or Wild Woman movies. The score is by Lalo Schifrin. With Judi Meredith, Peter Mark Richman, Werner Klemperer and Vaughn Taylor.