|
Curse of the Crimson Altar (1968)
Country of Origin: UK
Year of Production: 1968
Running Times: 89 mins
Length: 7976 ft
Format: Eastmancolor 35mm
Ratio:
Sound: mono
CREDITS
PRODUCTION
Production Company: Tigon
British Film Productions Ltd
Executive Producer: Tony
Tenser
Producer: Louis
M. Heyward
Associate Producer: Gerry
Levy
Production Manager: Alex
Carver-Hill
SCRIPT
Script: Mervyn
Haisman, Gerry
Levy, Henry
Lincoln
Story Adaptation: Jerry Sohl
Story: The Dreams in the Witch House by H.P.
Lovecraft (uncredited)
DIRECTION
Director: Vernon
Sewell
Assistant Director: Dennis Lewis
PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography: John Coquillon
EDITING AND POST-PRODUCTION
Editor: Howard Lanning
MUSIC
Music: Peter Knight
SOUND
Sound Mixer: Kevin Sutton
Dubbing Editor: Dennis Lanning
COSTUMES AND MAKE-UP
Make Up: Elizabeth Blatin, Pauline Worden
Hair: Ann Fordyce
Costume Designer: Michael Southgate
DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Production Designer: Derek Barrington
Property Master: John Payner
OTHER CREW
Director of Publicity: Peter Jacques
LOCATIONS
Locations: Middlesex, England, UK CAST
Boris Karloff (Professor
John Marshe)
Christopher Lee
(Morley)
Mark Eden (Robert Manning)
Barbara Steele
(Lavinia Morley)
Michael Gough (Elder)
Virginia Wetherell (Eve Morley)
Rosemarie Reede (Esther)
Derek Tansley (Judge)
Michael Warren (chauffeur)
Ron Pember (petrol attendant)
Denys Peek (Peter Manning)
Nicholas Head (torture master)
Nita Lorraine (woman with whip)
Carol Anne (1st virgin)
Jenny Shaw (2nd virgin)
Vivienne Carlton (sacrifice victim)
Roger Avon (Sergeant Tyson)
Paul McNeil (party guest)
Christine Pryor, Kerry Dean, Stephanie Marrion, Rosalind Royale (party
girls)
Millicent Scott (stripper at party)
Vicky Richards (belly dancer at party)
Tasma Bereton (painted party girl)
Lita Scott (girl with cockerel)
Terry Raven, Douglas Mitchell (drivers in car chase)
Nova St. Claire (girl in car chase)
Rupert Davies (Vicar Radford)
PLOT SUMMARY
Robert Manning visits the remote house where
his missing brother was last seen and learns of the legend of the
Black Witch of Greymarsh, Lavinia Morley. How does the legend tie
in with his brother's disappearance? And is it more than just
a legend?
CAPSULE REVIEW
Some fun psychedelic ritual sequences (even more fun in the alternate
European version – with added nudity) with Barbara
Steele painted green as its priestess enliven a plodding occult
thriller. Karloff
was added to the cast at the last minute so he and Lee
split the lead role, thus neither get the chance to do much. Director
Vernon Sewell,
who made some excellent taut mysteries in his long career, here is as
unsuited to this type of picture as he was the previous year with The
Blood Beast Terror (1967). The same year the producers,
Tigon, made Witchfinder
General. The hero, Mark Eden is better known in England
for being a villain on a major soap whose character died by being hit
by a tram.
AVAILABILITY
UK
Theatrical Distributors: Tigon British/American International
USA
Theatrical Distributor: AIP
Video Distributor: HBO Home Video
Laserdisc Distributor: Image Entertainment Inc
CENSORSHIP HISTORY
Australia
Rating: M
Sweden
Rating: 15
UK
Rating: X
USA
Rating: GP (original rating); PG
TIMELINE
1968
December
8: UK - theatrical release
1969
September
1: Sweden – theatrical release
1970
April
15: USA – theatrical release
1994
November
4: UK - television broadcast (on BBC1)
1996
October
20: UK - television broadcast (on BBC1)
1998
June
13: UK - television broadcast (on BBC1)
2003
March
8: USA - television broadcast (on SHOWX Channel 322)
9: USA - television broadcast (on SHOWX Channel 322)
12: USA - television broadcast (on SHOWX Channel 322)
POSTER TAGS
Come face to face with naked fear on the altar of evil!
What obscene prayer or human sacrifice can satisfy the Devil-God?
ALTERNATIVE TITLES
The Crimson Altar
The Crimson Cult – US title
Curse of the Crimson Cult
Die Hexe des Grafen Dracula – German TV title
La maison ensorcelée – French title
Monstret i skräckens hus – Swedish title
The Reincarnation
Schwarze Messe auf blutrotem Altar – German
title
Spirit of the Dead
Witch House
REFERENCES
MAGAZINES
Daily Cinema no.9490 (28 February 1968) p.15 (UK)
note
Daily Cinema no.9603 (22 November 1968) p.4 (UK)
review (by Marjorie Bilbow)
Films and Filming vol.15 no.5 (February 1969) p.48
(UK)
credits, review (by Richard Davis)
Hollywood Reporter vol.210 no.39 (17 April 1970) p.8
(USA)
credits, review (by John Goff)
Kine Weekly no.3189 (23 November 1968) p.10 (UK)
review
Monthly Film Bulletin vol.36 no.420 (January 1969)
p.9 (UK)
credits, synopsis, review
KEYWORDS
curses, legends, old dark houses, witches
|
