Aristocrat Julian Markham keeps his disfigured brother, Sir Edward, locked in a tower of his house. Sir Edward occasionally escapes and causes havoc around the town.Aristocrat Julian Markham keeps his disfigured brother, Sir Edward, locked in a tower of his house. Sir Edward occasionally escapes and causes havoc around the town.Aristocrat Julian Markham keeps his disfigured brother, Sir Edward, locked in a tower of his house. Sir Edward occasionally escapes and causes havoc around the town.
Hilary Heath
- Lady Elizabeth Markham
- (as Hilary Dwyer)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis film was banned in Texas during its theatrical release.
- GoofsWhen Sir Edward murders Heidi the prostitute, the special effects knife clearly sprays blood onto the actresses' neck well before it actually touches her.
- Quotes
Dr Neuhart: I might find myself buying your pretty little body one day for a guinea or two.
- Alternate versionsThe MGM DVD is the complete uncut version running 96m. Previous USA VHS releases were only 94m whilst the old UK VHS was trimmed further to 91m (87m in pal). The UK VHS was missing:
- about 1m out of the pre-credits sequence (various small trims)
- a scene in which Vincent Price and Hilary Dwyer walk in a garden talking about Africa
- The murders of Carl Rigg and Uta Levka were abridged
- Ute Levka's brief nude shots were missing
- a short scene in which Christopher Lee administers a tonic to a patient was removed. The USA VHS restored some of this missing footage but Levka nudity was still missing, her death was slightly abridged and the short Lee scene was missing. The 2008 Optimum DVD features the full uncut version.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Nightwatch Presents Edgar Allan Poe: The Oblong Box (1973)
Featured review
A very versatile tale of terror
We have all kind of barbarities featuring in this dark and moody tale. Only the wicked pen of Edgar Allen Poe could have come up with a tale that blends voodoo, body snatching, medical experiments, brotherly betrayal and a taste of what most likely is the worst imaginable nightmare: being buried alive! Set in the second half of the 19th century, Vincent Price (oh, how I love this man) stars as a wealthy landlord who returned from Africa severely traumatized. His brother got cursed by the aboriginals there and now lives locked up in his room, heavily deformed. But he's still clever enough to plan an escape and pays some small crooks to have him appear dead. Due to several unfortunate events, the plan goes wrong and Sir Edward's supposedly dead body ends up in the laboratory of morbid scientist Christopher Lee (another man I love!)
The entire film carries some sort of unnameable eeriness. The depressing set pieces and colorless locations add a great deal to the sublime horrific atmosphere. All this, together with an intriguing and complex screenplay makes this movie yet another highlight in the careers of Vincent Price and Christopher Lee. Both icons of horror give away amazing performances and it's actually a damn shame they don't share many sequences together. This is a marvelous film from the time that horror still was the greatest genre in cinema. They simply can't deliver movies as good as this anymore. Maybe I'm giving it a little too much praise but you can't but agree with me that at least this kind of horror oldies demand a much wider attention span than the nowadays gore-junk. For that aspect alone, I feel obliged to give it a high rating.
The entire film carries some sort of unnameable eeriness. The depressing set pieces and colorless locations add a great deal to the sublime horrific atmosphere. All this, together with an intriguing and complex screenplay makes this movie yet another highlight in the careers of Vincent Price and Christopher Lee. Both icons of horror give away amazing performances and it's actually a damn shame they don't share many sequences together. This is a marvelous film from the time that horror still was the greatest genre in cinema. They simply can't deliver movies as good as this anymore. Maybe I'm giving it a little too much praise but you can't but agree with me that at least this kind of horror oldies demand a much wider attention span than the nowadays gore-junk. For that aspect alone, I feel obliged to give it a high rating.
helpful•309
- Coventry
- Dec 22, 2004
Details
Box office
- Budget
- £70,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 36 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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