La rossa maschera del terrore

Edward Markham (Alister Williamson) is disfigured in Africa by vengeful natives; when he and his brother Julian (Vincent Price) return to London, Julian keeps Edward locked up. Edward escapes by faking his death, but in a twisted turn of events, his "dead" body is unearthed and taken to unscrupulous doctor Newhartt (Sir Christopher Lee). Donning a crimson mask to hide his visage, Edward goes about seeking his own revenge, occasionally slitting some unfortunate persons' throat, while demanding that Newhartt keep him hidden.

Based on a story by Edgar Allan Poe, this is certainly a decent horror flick, but it doesn't carry as much weight as one might like. The screenplay (credited to Lawrence Huntington, with additional dialogue written by Christopher Wicking and an uncredited Michael Reeves) is entertaining, but the film feels rather familiar overall. It's nicely made, with some fine period recreation. The opening is very striking, and there are restrained doses of blood, and provocative costumes on some of the ladies.

Price is solid as usual, but it's the Sir Christopher Lee portions of the story that worked more strongly for this viewer, with an interesting relationship developing between the crazed Edward and the "good" doctor. The supporting cast does some very fine work. Rupert Davies is a delight as an artist, as is Peter Arne as the sleazy lawyer Trench. Maxwell Shaw, Carl Rigg, Harry Baird, Godfrey James, and Ivor Dean likewise impress. Uta Levka, Sally Geeson, and Hilary Heath are all absolutely lovely.

Producer / director Gordon Hessler and company are wise to keep Edwards' supposedly hideous face hidden until the very end, but when we do finally see it, the makeup effects are underwhelming and the result is disappointment.

Fans of Price and Sir Christopher will want to see it for sure; they reunited the same year for "Scream and Scream Again", but after that, wouldn't work together again until "House of Long Shadows" in 1983.

Six out of 10.

Sir Julian Markham (Vincent Price) is an aristocrat of the late 19th century that keeps his disturbed brother Edward locked up in a tower of his manor; the man has been disfigured by natives in Africa when blamed for the accidental killing of a child. But Edward manages to escape and seeks revenge against Julian.

Director Gordon Hessler -not a top one at all if you see his filmography- gets a sort of morbid and languid atmosphere and settings that help the picture; but too many turns and items in the plot (voo-doo, madness, revenge, killings, treason, body snatching, romance and else- sort of disperse the focus in the main events -to put it somehow- and the final product comes out just standard.

Vincent Price and Cristopher Lee as a doctor that steals corpses for experiments are at their usual level and in some way save the picture (without them "The Oblong Box" would have been a complete failure).

Perhaps the main flaw is the character of Edward that appears too light for a villain or monster and even lacks impact when his ruined face is shown at the end; in fact you feel sorry for the guy since he's not scary at all.

Fans of Price, Lee and Gothic horror won't probably be disappointed but even then just one watch is enough. You always have the feeling that keeping the basic story and making it much more simpler would have made a good product in the genre; but it didn't come out that way.

This 1969 film heralded the first on-screen teaming of Vincent Price and Christopher Lee - shamefully, they only get one scene together (why couldn't the film-makers of the time put the horror masters together in a film successfully?).

Despite being beseiged by production problems - the writer Lawrence Huntington died shortly after completing the script and the original director, Michael Reeves was replaced by Gordon Hesler, due to his dependence on drugs and suicidal tendencies (he actually committed suicide in February 1969) - the film has a very eerie and atmospheric feel to it.

The plot is guilty of becoming too involved for its own good, but given there is always a general understanding of what is going on, the film does not suffer. Indeed, the period atmosphere is well-maintained and is supplemented by plenty of suspense and shock, not least due to the large content of scenes taking place during nightfall.

We are also cleverly kept guessing as to what Edward Markham's face is really like under the scarlet hood, and since this naturally becomes a preoccupation with the viewer, one is entitled to expect a horrific revelation at the end. It does come and depending on what you pre-judge his face to look like, I was not particularly disappointed!

Vincent Price and Christopher Lee's characterisations are not that pivotal and their performances tend to be just enough to carry the film through - they are really secondary, in a film stolen by Alister Williamson as the revenge killer.

Nevertheless, this film is well-worth a look, mainly due to it's originality and ambition.

In the end of the Nineteenth Century, the aristocrat Edward Markham (Alister Williamson) is disfigured by sorcery in Africa by the natives. His brother Julian Markham (Vincent Price) brings him back to the Markham Manor in England and keeps him prisoner in the attic. The mad Edward asks his lawyer Trench (Peter Arne) and his partner to bring the African sorcerer N'Galo (Harry Baird) in secret to heal him but Julian does not allow any contact with his brother. Trench and N'Galo simulate the death of Edward to remove him from the attic in a coffin. However, body snatchers bring his body to the unscrupulous Dr. Newhartt (Christopher Lee) for his research. Edward offers a large amount to Dr. Newhartt to stay hidden in his house and wears a crimson hood to hide his face. When Edward goes to the town, his mask brings problem to him and he begins a series of murders. When he finally meets N'Galo, he finds why the natives have deformed him and he seeks revenge.

"The Oblong Box" is a dark horror movie based on a story by Edgar Allan Poe. The screenplay keeps the story interesting until the end and the cast has two icons of the genre - Vincent Price and Christopher Lee. The sets and the atmosphere are stylish and adequate for the story. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

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.