The Crimson Cult (1968)

• Year: 1968
• Released: 15 Apr 1970
• Country: United Kingdom
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• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062833/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_crimson_cult
• Metacritics:
• Available in: 720p, 1080p,
• Language: English
• MPA Rating: R
• Genre: Horror
• Runtime: 87 min
• Writer: Mervyn Haisman, Henry Lincoln, Jerry Sohl
• Director: Vernon Sewell
• Cast: Boris Karloff, Christopher Lee, Mark Eden
• Keywords: witch, virgin, sacrifice, police, england, cemetery,

5.5/10

The Crimson Cult Storyline

When his brother disappears, Robert Manning pays a visit to the remote country house he was last heard from. While his host is outwardly welcoming, and his niece more demonstrably so, Manning detects a feeling of menace in the air with the legend of Lavinia Morley, Black Witch of Greymarsh, hanging over everything.—Jeremy Perkins {J-26}

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The Crimson Cult Movie Reviews

CURSE OF THE CRIMSON ALTAR (Vernon Sewell, 1968) **

This routine horror film has something of a maligned reputation (Christopher Lee himself refers to it as being “dreadful” in the accompanying interview), but the remarkable credits involved – stars Boris Karloff, Lee, Barbara Steele, Michael Gough and Rupert Davies, director Sewell and cameraman John Coquillon – and the familiar plot elements involving witchcraft make the concoction quite irresistible.

The stars are generally well cast: Karloff is given a great entrance and his character is amusingly acerbic, particularly with regards to bland leading man Mark Eden; Lee basically repeats his role – though here is given greater screen-time – from the superior black-and-white classic THE CITY OF THE DEAD (1960); Steele (in another of her long line of witches!) only appears in various characters’ hallucinations – but this, and the fact that she’s painted green all over and saddled with a silly horned head-dress, in no way undermines her peculiar beauty and commanding presence; Gough, however, is wasted as a vaguely sinister yet dim-witted manservant; Davies, too, is underused in an all-too-typical vicar role (though his belated involvement does bring about Lee’s come-uppance); Virginia Wetherell isn’t bad as Lee’s niece, who’s unaware of his secret lifestyle (despite herself having a predilection for throwing wild parties in their mansion, giving rise to some hilariously dated grooviness!), endangers her own life by falling for Eden practically at first sight (thus incurring Lee’s wrath) and even appears briefly in the nude (this was her film debut!). There’s nothing remotely memorable about the film (except, maybe, some of its imagery in the scenes where Steele shows up or, rather, is manifested) and can only be seen as a major disappointment given the enormous talent on hand – though the main culprit has to be its lazy scripting, since all the stars have treaded this path too many times before!

Lee’s interview about Karloff is one of his most interesting and affectionate: I was surprised to learn that he considered SON OF FRANKENSTEIN (1939) the best of Karloff’s three stabs at the role of The Creature (though I adore the film myself), but he also erroneously mentioned that Karloff and Bela Lugosi had made a film called “Pit And The Pendulum” (which the interviewer – who I assume to be Marcus Hearn – didn’t correct…but, then, nor could he help Lee when the latter asked whether the Karloff vehicle in which the actor played twins was called THE BLACK ROOM [1935]!; in this regard, I have to say that I’m irked no end every time an interviewer shows up without having done any preparation about his subject!!). It’s also disappointing, to us genre fans, that the great horror stars never discussed their work amongst themselves (at least, according to Lee), as it would have been awesome to know just what they felt about it – and themselves for doing such films!

The DVD quality is on a par with the two recent DD Video releases I watched – ISLAND OF TERROR (1966) and NIGHT OF THE BIG HEAT (1967) – and, like the former, has been trimmed slightly for this edition! Having watched all of them now, I’m almost sorry that I didn’t pick up DD Video’s THE BLOOD-BEAST TERROR (1967) and THE DEVIL’S MEN (1975) as well…and even more that I didn’t order their SE of THE CREEPING FLESH (1972) earlier, since I’ve never watched it and is now practically impossible to find in this guise – having unceremoniously gone out-of-print!!

Muddled Script, but what a Cast!

This movie was one of the very last accomplishments of the legendary Boris Karloff (not quite sure if those Mexican junk movies were shot before this one but they definitely remained shelved until after his death) and reportedly he got really ill shortly after – or even during – the shooting of “Curse of the Crimson Altar”. If this is a true fact, it definitely gives the film some sort of sour aftertaste. With a career like his, Boris Karloff should have enjoyed a well-deserved retirement instead of catching pneumonia on draughty film sets at the age of 82. On the other hand, of course, “Curse of the Crimson Altar” wouldn’t have been half as good if it weren’t for him. It already isn’t much of a highlight in the genre, but Karloff’s presence (along with three others horror veterans) provides an extra dimension of horror greatness.

This is one of the Tigon Production Company’s more mediocre efforts – completely incomparable to “The Witchfinder General” and “Blood on Satan’s Claw” – but still a remotely entertaining Brit-horror flick containing all the traditional ingredients, such as witchery, torture devices, old mansions with secret passageways, ritual sacrifices and psychedelic hallucination sequences. The plot revolves on an antique dealer (and ladies’ man!) who heads out to the countryside in search for his mysteriously vanished brother. He arrives in a remote little town during the annual memorial of the legendary witch Lavinia Morley’s burning. Mr. Manning is exaggeratedly welcomed at first, but he gradually senses something strange and sinister has happened to his brother in the mansion he’s staying. When he then begins to suffer from vivid nightmares involving Lavinia herself, he realizes his name is historically linked to the witch and that he’s been put under a sardonic curse.

Apart from the cast, “Curse of the Crimson Altar” benefices the most from its occasionally very moody atmosphere, the eerie scenery and the impressively staged witchery sequences. Even though these scenes might appear a little silly overall (what with the bodybuilders wearing leather S&M outfits), but they’re still definitely a joy to watch when you’re a fan of old-fashioned Gothic horror. Barbara Steele is underused and extremely typecast as the malignant Lavinia, but what the heck, even with her face painted green and ridiculously over-sized goat horns on her head, she still remains a luscious beauty. Boris Karloff and Christopher Lee (in their second teaming after “Corridors of Blood”) are wonderful together, but the still heavily underrated Michael Gough shines as the weird and mentally unstable Elder. Unfortunately, however, the shoddy script contains too many holes and improbabilities, and director Vernon Sewell lacks the talent and horror knowledge to cover these up.

One last and perhaps interesting little trivia detail; although entirely devoid of humor otherwise, “Curse of the Crimson Altar” features one intentionally wit and unsubtle inside joke. Whilst talking about the old and secluded mansion, the main character mentions something in the lines of “I expect Boris Karloff to walk in at any moment” and – in fact – he does only a couple of minutes later. He rolls in, to be exact, since he plays a wheelchair bound character.

Strange

The cast were the source of interest for Curse of the Crimson Altar in the first place. The film though doesn’t see any of the cast at their best and doesn’t do them justice. That said Curse of the Crimson Altar is far from terrible. The cinematography and settings are appropriately eerie, and the music gives a real sense of creepiness. Three members of the cast shine. Boris Karloff is even when ill and late in his career commanding and acerbic. Christopher Lee is similarly wonderful and has a character that suits him to a tee. And Barbara Steele is wonderfully wacky and sensual, her costume and make-up are a knockout. Mark Eden however is a monotonously bland lead, and Virginia Weatherell while very pretty is lacking in charisma too. Michael Gough does deserve credit for doing shifty so convincingly, sadly he’s woefully underused, and that’s pretty much the same with Rupert Davies. While the film doesn’t look so bad visually, the special effects do look rather cheap. The script is a complete muddle, it has some amusing lines from Karloff but too much of it is cheesy and severely underwritten. The story drags quite badly and even for a short running time feels on the thin side, complete with an ending that is both under-explained and dramatically undercooked. The dream sequences did come across as hilariously weird too, and the direction is rather flat and doesn’t do anything to make the film less dull and muddled. Overall, not a terrible film but a strange one, somewhat difficult to rate this time around. 5/10 Bethany Cox