Altar de sangre

When his brother dísappears Robert Manning: Mark Eden, pays a visit to the far country house where his brother stayed . While his host : Christopher Lee is outwardly welcoming, his niece is very agreeable with him . But Manning feels a sinister threat across the weird house due to a creepy legend of Lavinia Morley , Black Witch of Greymarsh, she is the high priestess of Evil, a monstruos fiend with an overpowering lust for blood . Terror fills the night as she stalks her prey !. The World's Masters of Terror in a New Blood-Curdler ! What obscene prayer or human sacrifice can satisfy the Devil-God ?

The Crimson Altar or Curse of the Crimson Altar is a creepy and mysterious film in which a guest at a luxurious house comes face to face with naked fear on the altar of evil . Stars three greatest terror actors : Christopher Lee , Barbara Steele , and , of course , Boris Karloff , the Master of Evil in his last and most shocking role, though he was 80 and confined to a wheelchair . Despite ads claiming this as his last film, he made four more in Mexico. Adding other prestigious actors as Rupert Davies and Michael Gough who also starred a lot of terror movies .Highlights of the movie include the scantily clad Barbara Steele in sado-masochistic sequences and a psychodelic party with body painters and strippers , in addition, the eerie and supernatural final.

The motion picture was regularly directed by Vernon Sewell, packing some flaws and gaps . He was one of the mainstays in the B niche of the British film industry and in his almost 40 years shooting made all kinds of genres as Noir , action , terror , sexploitation , spy thrillers . Filming a number of movies such as : Stricly for the Birds , Urge to Kill, Master of Choice , The Man in the Back Seat, Battle of the V-1 , Wind of Change , Rogue's Yarn, Dangerous Voyage , Soho Incident , Johnny You're Wanted , and being his last one Burke and Hare. Adding his ordinary TV works as The Human Jungle , Kraft Mystery Theater , Sailor of Fortune , Edgar Wallace TV series and The Avengers .

This movie is disappointing for numerous reasons. It's a disappointing entry within its genre, that besides is a waste of its impressive cast.

This is a late British horror movie, of the more old fashioned sort. The sort of horror that started off during the '50's and got made big by mostly the Hammer studios. The sort of horror that is not always too well written and not with the most impressive sets or budget behind it but horror with an always great atmosphere and distinctive style to it, which often made them a true pleasure to watch.

You could tell that the era was nearing its end and was more or less over already. This movie is more consistent with other British horror movies from the late '60's, which often focused on the far more psychological horror aspects, rather than old school gore and scares. It's something you could more refer to as Gothic horror. Boris Karloff actually played in quite a lot of movies like this, near the end of his career.

And this movie actually was one of last ones. He died one year after the release of it and it was also quite sad to see how he had to play his role entirely in a wheelchair because of his declining health. Still he is one of the highlights of the movie. Not too many people know it but Karloff was actually one fine, great actor, who was capable of way more than just playing the Frankenstein monster.

Of course it was also great to see him act along sides other great horror icons, such as Christopher Lee, Barbara Steele and Michael Gough. But it's not like their roles are that great really. The story is also not very consistent with any of its characters. Sometimes they disappear out of the story completely for a too long time.

And here is one of the biggest problems of the movie; its story. It's a quite messy one really, that besides is lacking in some real good tension or mystery. The movie remains barely interesting enough to keep watching, which is still mostly thanks to its compelling actors, who still of course have some great screen presence. And the real horror lover will of course still get a kick out of it, seeing the likes of Boris Karloff and Christopher Lee interacting and doing a scene together. This alone should be reason enough for them to go and watch this movie.

However let me just warn you by saying that the movie itself isn't much good really.

5/10

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Robert Manning (Mark Eden) searches for his vanished brother in a rural English village, where he is entangled in the legend of Lavinia (Barbara Steele), a witch killed 300 years ago. Lavinia's heir, J. D. Morley (Christopher Lee), wants revenge on anyone related to her killers, such as Robert. Robert romances Morley's niece, Eve, and is aided by occult expert Prof. Marsh (Boris Karloff), but it is up to him to repel Morley's evil designs.

Boris Karloff became ill with pneumonia while shooting this project in the freezing rain. It was his last British feature, begun January 22 1968, and he would recover enough to shoot four Mexican features in May 1968, his final screen work. Barbara Steele is always a treat, and she is especially interesting with green skin and a large, feathery hat (if you can call that a hat).

Loosely based off of H. P. Lovecraft's "Dreams in the Witch House", how does it stack up to the Stuart Gordon version forty years later? Honestly, you cannot even compare them. If there is a connection, it is very limited. There is a witch, there are dreams, but the two films are worlds apart.

Howard Maxford calls the film "dated and somewhat slow", having "a better cast than it deserves". How a film that runs only 87 minutes can be slow is a legitimate question. Ivan Butler also feels the film falls short, saying the "promise of a combination of Lee, Karloff and Barbara Steele is not fulfilled". These are fair assessments.

I recommend the film for the cast and the awesome organ track that opens the film. Beyond that, it is hit and miss and you could skip it.

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.