The House in the Woods (1957)

Geoffrey Carter - a highly strung author suffering from writer's block - petulantly insists to his wife that they flee their annoying neighbors and move somewhere more peaceful. They find a delightfully remote woodland cottage which the owner - a melancholic, widowed artist with a Larry Adler fixation - is happy to rent them at a pittance. All too soon they realize that something is not quite right with their landlord and, much to Geoffrey's horror, he realizes that the plot of his new murder mystery is being played out for real.