Estate of Insanity) is a 1964 British gothic horror film directed by Robert Hartford-Davis and starring John Turner, Heather Sears and Ann Lynn.

A complicating factor is that the only person who can interpret his signing is the devoted Diane, sister of Sir Richard's first wife Anne who died by her own hand four years previously after becoming deranged over her inability to bear a child.

On arrival in his home village, Sir Richard, having expected a warm welcome after his absence and marriage, finds himself treated with rudeness and barely disguised suspicion by his tenants, such as Black John, the local blacksmith.

His coachman Tom asks a villager the reason for the sudden hostility towards his previously well-liked master and is told that shocking events have been taking place, culminating in the rape and murder of Lucy who, before she died, screamed out Sir Richard's name.

Sir Richard points out that he was probably in London when the attack happened, but Seymour states that logic cannot assuage the villagers' primitive suspicions and talk of witchcraft, particularly since enquiries have established there were no strangers in the vicinity at the time.

Colonel Wentworth informs Sir Richard that there are numerous reports of his having been seen riding around the neighbourhood at night during his supposed absence in London, pursued by "Anne" who keeps shouting the word "murderer".

The script signals its plot points (the existence of the brother, for instance) with massive insistence, and Robert Hartford-Davis appears to have no idea what to do with his camera, leaving it focused pretty much at random on anything that happens to be at hand.

"[2] Variety wrote: "Set a British film in the 18th Century and stage it in some country mansion, and it's a fair bet that the characters will be involved in some pretty eerie hocus-pocus.

It's directed by Robert Hartford-Davis, an unsung hero of British horror, and actors John Turner and Heather Sears work miracles in making this gothic melodrama believable.

The sloppily constructed plot ...The film's tone is set in a pre-credit sequence showing a young woman (Ronay) running through the woods trying to escape a murderous rapist.