Rent Curse of the Crimson Altar (1968)

Dull - Curse of the Crimson Altar review by sb

FILM & REVIEW Remarkably dull British horror movie - begins quite promisingly with a girl being whipped in what appears to be a fetish dungeon then a new adept plunges a dagger into her before being branded by some blokes in S&M gear. The adept is Peter Manning who his brother Robert tracks down to a remote country house where he meets Eve (Whetherell) the niece of Morley (Lee) he denies knowing the brother. He also meets Professor March (Karloff) who is an expert on witchcraft and learns that Morley is the decedent of a witch burned 300 years ago. The film then plods along as Robert uncovers the truth about his brother and his own family ancestry but it’s really dull - Lee is his usual menacing charm and Karloff brings a quiet dignity to one of his final roles. The reason both were cast was because they couldn’t get insurance for Karloff as too old and infirm so cast Lee only to discover the contract states they would have to pay Karloff either way so rewrote the film to accommodate both. It’s all shot on location in a country house in midwinter and Lee has said he has never been so cold….but a very poor entry to the genre - 2/5

Spoilers follow ... - Curse of the Crimson Altar review by NP

Starring Boris Karloff and Christopher Lee (with support from Barbara Steele and Michael Gough amongst others), and written by Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln, who introduced The Yeti to television’s Doctor Who – this has all the hallmarks of being a classic. The results, however, are average.

‘Curse…’ opens with a brave and bizarre fetishist torture scene, which recurs throughout in various dream sequences (with some unnerving sound effects – a kind of backward tape loop used as disorientating background noise). The hero of the piece is Richard Manning (Mark Eden) who is sadly less interesting than most of the other characters. He’s searching for his missing brother, but succeeds only in revisiting nightmares and tales of witchcraft whilst staying in a sprawling mansion at the generous behest of Lee’s Morley. It is revealed that Manning is the direct descendent of the judge who condemned a witch to death many years earlier.

Despite labelling the film ‘dreadful’, Christopher Lee puts in what I think is one of his best performances. Understated and absolutely convincing as a man unable to help Manning locate his brother, whilst concealing darker motives. It’s just possible he is the living reincarnation of witch Lavinia Morley (otherwise played by Steele in a green-faced make-up) although this is not explained.

Despite a fiery climax, ‘Curse…’ never escapes from the dullness of its direction. Vernon Sewell also directed Tigon’s ‘The Blood Beast Terror’ the same year with an equally staid lack of ambition.