CRIMSON CULT, THE (director:Vernon Sewell; screenwriter: Mervyn Haisman/Henry Lincoln; cinematographer: John Coquillon; cast: Boris Karloff (Prof. John Marshe), Christopher Lee (Morley ), Mark Eden (Robert Manning), Barbara Steele (Lavinia Morley), Michael Gough (Elder), Virginia Wetherell (Eve Morley), Rupert Davies (The Vicar), Denys Peek (Peter Manning), Roger Avon (Sgt. Tyson), Rosemarie Reede (Esther), Mike Warren (Basil), 1968-UK)
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
The 81-year-old Boris Karloff's last completed feature film, could have and should have been better, as it suffers from a weakly-crafted script despite having great performances from the three prominent horror screen favorites who are in it- that would be Karloff as Professor Marshe, Christopher Lee as Morley, and Barbara Steele as Lavinia. Though, it is still worth seeing because of its star attractions and its innovative psychedelic offerings to the horror genre.
Robert Manning (Eden) discovers that his brother Peter is missing after going to Craxted Lodge in the village of Greymarsh to purchase antiques for their business in London, and decides to go there himself to see if he can locate him. His gracious and sophisticated host, Morley, puts him up for the night in his splendid mansion, a must prop for any horror film of this nature. It seems that Bob's visit is at a very festive time, it is the day that the townspeople celebrate the death of the local witch Lavinia which took place in January of 1652.
Bob first meets the lovely Eve (Virginia) when he goes to Morley's house to question him about his brother. She lives at her uncle's house and is wildly partying there with friends, as the two meet and look into each other's eyes and have an instant physical attraction for each other.
When Bob can't get anywhere in tracing his brother, he questions Professor Marshe, a visitor in the Morley house, who is an expert on witchcraft. He tells the innocent young man, whose family originally came from this town, the story about the 17th century witch Lavinia, who claimed that she was innocent after being accused by the town's establishment, which included Manning's distant relative, who was actually the main accuser. Rumor has it that she placed a curse on the town, avenging retaliation against all her accusers. Bob scoffs at the witch story and the idea of ghosts being around, saying he knows little about such things. But the professor replies in his noted serious Karloff movie tone, "When the time comes, your skepticism might be only a fragile shield."
To add further to the eerie atmosphere, are scenes with foggy winter nights, a castle with ancient relics, the pitch black skies of the small-town, and Morley's mentally unbalanced servant, Elder (Gough), who mysteriously warns Bob to get out before it is too late. He also tells him to visit a private gravesite to get some answers for what he is looking for.
Bob's conversations with the wheel-chaired bound professor are terse but highlight the film, as they are delivered with proper horror film affect. When he asks the professor, "What do you collect?" He is told, "I collect instruments of torture."
Bob will have two wonderful scenes where he has hallucinations, and both these nightmares come after drinking brandy with Morley, which leads one to suspect the drinks were drugged. In these dreams, he envisions being led to a courtroom and the costumed Lavinia, whose face is painted, her lips are ruby red, and she is wearing a golden ram's horn headpiece, and is trying to get him to sign a book, as she is surrounded by a trial judge and masked jurors, some in goat's masks and others traditionally masked for what could be expected at such a macabre event.
In his second dream sequence, he will envision a ring of fire and be taken away to the same room as before, where he will be stabbed in the arm by Lavinia, and will go sleepwalking down to the lake, where he is about to drown himself when the police sergeant (Avon) comes along and takes him back to the house and to Eve.
Bob discovers a secret passage in his guest room that leads to an attic space that looks like it is the same one he had in his dreams. With the help of Eve going to the vicar (Rupert) to trace the records of the witchcraft trial and with him visiting the professor's house, where he learns that in witchcraft writing a name in a book is a serious matter and can't be taken back he, thusly, realizes that he and Eve are in grave danger.
Boris Karloff becomes the hero of this tale, along with his faithful mute servant Basil (Warren), as they come just in time to rescue the innocent duo from a burning house.
The film's not real frightening because there is a flatness to it; but, it has its entertaining moments, and is a must see for Karloff fans.
REVIEWED ON 12/21/99 GRADE: C+
Dennis Schwartz: "Ozus' World Movie Reviews"
http://www.sover.net/~ozus
ozus@sover.net
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