Desi Arnaz Jr plays Kenneth MacGee, a bull-headed American writer who boasts to his agent Sam Allyson (Richard Todd) that he can write a novel in 24 hours isolated in a remote Welsh mansion. It is to Arnaz Jr’s credit that MacGee emerges as such a likeable character, so brash is his character written.
All the horror atmospherics are then applied - an endless storm, long shadows (naturally) and – in the film’s major selling point – four of the genre’s most celebrated actors. John Carradine is Elijah Grisbane, grouchy, irascible and ancient. Peter Cushing appears next as Sebastian Grisbane, lisping, tipsy and nervous. Out of the night then steps Vincent Price as Lionel Grisbane, suitably theatrical and soliloquizing. Finally, Corrigan emerges, played with typical fruity authority by Christopher Lee. Sheila Keith ably joins the ensemble as the frightening house-keeper, and Julie Peasgood, who seems to be utterly delightful in every acting job and personal appearance she has given, plays wide-eyed Mary Gorton.
Emerging as an enjoyable, but far inferior version of ‘The Old Dark House (1932)’, this proved the final filmic project of Director Pete Walker, who had helmed a string of 1970’s ‘exploitation’ horrors (‘House of Whipcord’ and ‘The Flesh and Blood Show’ amongst them). Never meeting with huge success, he retired from the profession after the release of this was also met with a muted response, despite being the only grouping of the four legendry thespians.
A fondness of Walker is to end his film with a twist. The twist here is not only as improbable as the others, but there are several of them, piled one after the other, which leaves the viewer a little shell-shocked. Here, the twists push the narrative further towards being almost entirely tongue-in-cheek, which is either detrimental or beneficial to the film, depending on your point of view.
Despite a bigger than usual budget, the director’s work is still a little murky, the murders awkwardly staged. The results prove enjoyable despite the flaws, mainly because of the tremendous cast enjoying themselves.