Die Hexe des Grafen Dracula

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

An underrated slice of late Sixties horror/psychedelia. It was filmed in 1968 and reminded me somewhat of The Dunwich Horror which was made around the same time and similarly attempted to update Lovecraft with setpieces inspired by the drug culture and the Summer of Love. The difference with the Crimson Cult is that it was filmed in England with a stellar cast who can actually act, unlike poor fish-out-of-water Miss Sandra Dee in Dunwich. It is a treat to see Boris Karloff and Christopher Lee trading pleasantries in their scenes. Michael Gough extracts the maximum from his small role as a pitifully unhinged factotum. Barbara Steele exudes a grandly Gothic malevolence in her scenes as Lavinia. She is probably the single most memorable presence in the film and whatever power it possesses is largely thanks to her. (Great costume, too!) The dungeon sequences are probably the best though my favorite moment in the film occurs when the innocent young man asks Karloff's sinister professor "What do you collect?" and with a friendly grin Karloff replies, "Instruments of torture!" Marvelous moment.

This movie is ridiculously difficult to find. After years of searching I located a bootlegged videotape which is in terrible condition--grainy and the colors which should be vividly over-the-top are quite washed out. Also the print lacks the original score which was quite nifty as I recall from seeing it on American television in the early 70s. There is supposed to be a laser disc version from the early 90s. It would be great if a patron who owns this would do a review of that.

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.

A nicely filmed horror movie,unfortunately marred by a botched ending which does not answer all the questions.The main asset is the cast:Boris Karloff,Christopher Lee and Barbara Steele ,all veterans of the genre.

But their parts are underwritten and the real star is actually Mark Eden as Robert Manning,in search of his brother Peter ,an antique dealer ,who disappeared after a visit to a Gothic desirable mansion. Manning,arriving at the place finds weird people ,a mute half wit and a sinister-looking professor(and a gorgeous blonde too).At night,he has bad dreams (which bear the appropriate scars of time: of course there are psychedelic effects!).He begins to investigate and to wonder whether his nightmares might not be reality as he discovers a strange attic.

Christopher Lee, Boris Karloff and Barbara Steele all in one horror flick. How can any fan of British horror from the 1960s fail to be enticed by such a top line-up?

As it happens, Curse of the Crimson Altar is actually an OK film. It was critically mauled and failed to impress at the box office, but it has some enjoyable moments if you're prepared to forgive its rather dated feel. The story is unoriginal and bland, with a young antiques dealer visiting a spooky looking house in search of his missing brother, only to uncover a witchcraft cult. But there are still plenty of moments to savour, such as some deliciously over-the-top sacrificial rituals, plus expertly acted scenes between Karloff and Lee.

The lead character played by Mark Eden (eagle-eyed viewers may remember him as nasty Alan Bradley in the British soap Coronation Street) is a crashing bore, and is nowhere near as handsome as he clearly thinks he is. However, some of the more bizarre characters in this film are really well delineated and make the film worth watching at least once.