not bad, a bit outdated, Bernard Herrmann, SAM RAIMI(?)

finally managed to watch this yesterday.

first, i am shocked no one pointed this out yet:
i am 100% certain that Sam Raimi borrowed some of the camera tricks used here on the "ghost dog outside the door" scene, when it sniffs. the lens used, the movement, it's all there. even the sound fx. Raimi just took it to a different comical horror angle in Evil Dead II. anyone agrees?

now for my opinion:

i usually don't enjoy retro movies, unless they are exceptionally realistic.
i don't like retro acting, and directing.
in this film it was decent, but still it felt a bit outdated for my taste.
some of the acting was not realistic, etc.

that brings me to the most important change i would have made in this film:

as some reviewers wrote, it would have been a better film if Hitchcock directed it. maybe. but again, i am shocked no one addresses the MUSIC SOUNDTRACK!!
i personally found it VERY outdated, annoying, and too cliche like many other horror films done at the time. i hated that.the sound fx and atmosphere were done pretty well and original for the time, so the music was pretty much a big let down IMO.
i'm not sure Hitckcock would have made this film better, however, i think i can say very certainly that if Bernard Herrmann would have written the soundtrack, this film was tons better.

besides that, the camerawork was very good. saved the film IMO.
i must say it wasn't THAT frightening. i just liked the atmosphere of "being" there with the characters. it was fun. the story was ok. maybe it was original at the time, but now it was a bit predictable.
also, some of the characters motivations were not very realistic (unless it was most in Eleanor's mind of course).

i think it deserves a 7.5, for the camerawork, directing, originality at the time.