Two young crooks, Tony (Derren Nesbitt) and Frank (Keith Faulkner), cosh a bookmaker (Harry Locke) in order to rob him of his takings from the dog track. However, they discover the bag containing the money is chained to his wrist and the key is not on his person so they are forced to put his unconscious body in the back of the car and take him with them. They finally succeed in separating the bag from his wrist, but every time they try to dispose of his body it keeps reappearing and finally results in deadly consequences for the two men...Alongside House Of Mystery (1960), this is one of the most highly acclaimed second feature thrillers that writer-director Vernon Sewell ever made. For a film running for only 56 minutes, his tight and economical direction succeeds in getting maximum suspense out of the situations in Malcolm Hulke and Eric Paice's screenplay. A series of close calls occur as the two men narrowly avoid been caught before the film reaches disturbing supernatural climax. which is a match for anything any 'A' feature ghost thriller could do and it will chill your spine. Good performances too from Nesbitt who is utterly convincing as the more ruthless and cunning of the two men (he coshes the bookmaker and later kills him). Faulkner is quite good as the weak and easily lead Frank while Carol White of Cathy Come Home fame offers a gritty, realistic portrayal of the latter's wife who is dismayed at her husband's involvement with Tony and puts her foot down and says "It's either me or him. You come in with me or that door will close shut behind you." Frank later reveals that he had planned it to be his last job for Tony and tells his wife that he wanted the money so they could get out of their dingy, basement flat and so they both wouldn't have to go out to work. It is one of joys of these British crime thrillers that they feature believable and realistic working class villains with ordinary aspirations as opposed to the more glamouress, fanciful and not lifelike ones in their bigger budget Hollywood counterparts.

This kind of films must take care to the details. If the details are silly, then the film is silly, period. In this case, it's about a wrist connected by a chain to a bag full of money. The simplest plier could cut the bag free or open the ridiculous lock of the bag but the thieves attack the chain instead, as far as I could see in my fast forward viewing. Had they only used a steel box instead, they would have fixed the annoying detail - but they did not. Simply ridiculous. I guess they didn't care. The whole viewing of the film will thus be spent on being annoyed at a detail that did not have to be. Well, to tell the truth, this film did not need to be either.

Mentioned in the sole IMDb comment on the recently-viewed Italian thriller TI ASPETTERO' ALL' INFERNO (1960) as being similar, this is even less of a ghost story than that one was – the haunting being relegated to the very last scene – but at least it does not cheat and have the 'manifestations' revealed as gimmicks! Anyway, this is one of an outburst of British B-movies (pretty much the equivalent of the 'quota quickies' of the 1930s but clearly having greater merit) which came out throughout the first half of the decade: most were thrillers and ran barely an hour in length (this one, in fact, clocks in at 54 minutes!). As far as I can recall, the only previous title I watched in this vein had been STRONGROOM (1962) – with which this shares director and leading man (Derren Nesbitt) – a long time ago early one morning on Italian TV…but have just acquired Sewell's HOUSE OF MYSTERY (1961; a genuine 'haunted house' movie this time around!) in time for this Halloween challenge, and also own at least two more i.e. THE IMPERSONATOR (1960) and THE TRAITORS (1962) in my collection. THE MAN IN THE BACK SEAT, then, is the 'ghost' in question, a bookie beaten up and abducted (since the money bag is chained to his wrist!) by "layabout" Nesbitt (with one leg in a cast!) and his married associate (Keith Faulkner); much of the proceedings take place in the car as everything seems to go wrong thereafter, and the couple are forced to drive around all night carrying their quarry – his life slowly ebbing away – with them. Faulkner wants to drive him to a hospital but the entry is blocked by security guards; the car gets a flat tyre and subsequently runs out of fuel – both of these bad breaks re-enforces Nesbitt's decision to get rid of the bookie, but they next attempt to have the man treated by a neighboring doctor who, suspecting foul play, does not want to get involved (so Nesbitt pays for his services, and his silence, with the blood money itself!). In the meantime, Faulkner's wife (Carol White) also becomes an unwitting accomplice, especially after having come across the secreted money bag; the robbers even try to dump their hapless victim on the street and make it look like he is a drunk, but Nesbitt had carelessly removed his gloves to douse him in alcohol – trying to rectify this mistake, the two are interrupted by a policeman on patrol so, they have to once more take to the road in tandem. Eventually, the man bites the dust as the other two are trying to reach yet another hospital; on their way to "scarper" from the scene of his final disposal, Faulkner begins to get paranoid – not only thinking every other car is the police chasing them, but he even keeps seeing the dead man's face in the rear-view mirror, which leads him to run their vehicle off the road into a ravine below. Nesbitt is killed instantaneously yet Faulkner barely survives and, when the police arrive, pleads with them to see to the third passenger…but the car blows up before they can do anything about it! Terse, gripping and stylish, the film makes for a sterling example of just what can be accomplished even with meager resources.

First rate little thriller by veteran director Sewell, who could be very good when he tried. Two crooks rob a bookie at a dog track and are stuck putting his body in the back seat. Every time they try to get rid of him, fate intervenes and they're back in the car with him. Derren Nesbitt is especially good as the more callous of the two. Good script, crisp black and white photography, taut direction. Good work all around. This is a fine addition to British film noir and should be included with others in that genre. And perhaps a re-appreciation of Sewell is in order. It's too bad this isn't out on DVD yet. Those who think Hitchcock was the only one who could use confined spaces well should check this out.