Review of The Night My Number Came Up

"The Night My Number Came Up" is a classy and gripping thriller that boasts a grabber of a premise, fine black and white cinematography, convincing special effects, intelligent dialogue, a flawless ensemble cast (with Alexander Knox standing out), and a lot of suspense. However, based mostly on Leonard Maltin's **** star rating, I expected a little more when I first watched it - some sort of mind-blowing twist at the end that makes you sit up and say "Aha!". There isn't one. And there is not much of a twist to the mystery of the passenger whom we expect to have a panic attack, either - it turns out to be the most obvious candidate. Don't get me wrong, this is a good movie, however a "**** out of 4 stars" rating seems a bit excessive; I'd give it ***.