The Man Who Haunted Himself starts with a Kinks style "Well Respected Man … get[ting] off work at 5:30," and if he doesn't "Get the same train every time," at least he drives the same car, with hat & umbrella set in their correct spots, and watch checked for accuracy—"The girls say we could set our clocks by you"—"'Cause his world is built 'round punctuality." Along the M4 out of London, something possesses Walter Pelham (Roger Moore) to mash the accelerator, and he ends up in hospital—"General, I think he's gone"—where he is revived amidst seemingly faulty equipment. He recuperates on holiday, and we then see him apologizing for bumping into a girl at the pool—"And he adores the girl … / 'Cause he's dying to get at her, / But … Doing the best things so conservatively."

Slowly, as the movie progresses he (& we) becomes aware of a seeming doppelganger going about town in his name but totally out of character. His shrink Dr Harris pegs Pelham as a "creature of habit" which has led to illusion de double: delusion of double. He is rigid in his habits and has an almost Puritanical rejection of sex—won't even make love to his lovely wife Eve (Hildegard Neil) whom he's too accustomed to. His doppelganger isn't so suppressed. Walter, Dr Harris tells him, needs more panache. He needs to dress colorfully and enjoy without guilt all the pleasures of life. The bowler hat, black umbrella, unchanging tie, and starched collar symbolize all the things we want to get rid of. "Just be yourself, Mr Pelham. Don't be a slave to convention."

Good old conservative Pelham follows his doctor's advice. Then the unthinkable happens. Conservative disheveled Pelham in his new clothes meets his calm and collected doppelganger whose sartorial criticism belies a deeper identity problem.

The explanation of their duality is kind of weird unless you're part of some weird religion that's used to it. Being "born again," for instance, involves a ritualistic baptism into the death of a Savior then by faith being raised a "new man" in Christ. Sometimes, however, the "old man" comes alive again, then there are two of you. Weird, huh? So is "The Man Who Haunted Himself" explanation, but to some religious it has a familiar ring to it. We're trying to be this new creation in Christ, but it's like we're being haunted by our old selves, or our old selves are being haunted by the new depending on who's dominant. (See my review of Tropic Thunder for comparison.)

There is one Bible passage in particular that's right at home in this movie. (James 1:5-8) "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways." The new Pelham personifies the potential of The Beatles Nowhere Man for "the world [being] at [his] command!" the way he handled his company's merger with Electronics General having worldwide intrigue. By comparison the old Pelham "Doesn't have a point of view," for all the good it does him. It was as if the new Pelham had access to a higher wisdom.

In the end we have a Pelham who's all wet, like a wave of the sea, sinking beneath the water, like a real Nowhere Man if I ever saw one.

The movie is based on Anthony Armstrong's, The Case of Mr Pelham. Roger Moore shows himself to be a talented actor, not just lucky to have landed some past roles as a British spy. "The Man Who Haunted Himself" is every bit as good as any Alfred Hitchcock or Twilight Zone movie in this reviewer's opinion, only more British in flavor. If you like the genre, I think you'll consider this one a rare find.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older