The Black Torment

The only film I'd seen from director Robert Hartford-Davis prior to seeing this sixties flick was the lamentable 'Incense for the Damned', so as you can imagine; I didn't go into The Black Torment with the highest of hopes. While this film is hardly a great horror masterpiece, or even one of the best British horrors of the sixties; it's certainly a good film, and a million times better than Incense for the Damned. The film focuses more on its atmosphere, and Hartford-Davis ensures that the themes of murder and insanity are always bubbling on the surface of the movie. The film gets off to a very slow start, and I wasn't too impressed with it once the first half hour had elapsed. Luckily, things improve later on, and the first half of the movie merely sets up the basics of the story. We follow Sir Richard Fordyce upon his return home to his eerie mansion along with his new wife, Lady Elizabeth. His first wife killed herself at her home, and the memory still haunts the lord of the manor. Furthermore, his servants believe that he has been present at the mansion prior to his return...

Huge mansion houses are a tried and tested location for horror, and the one in this film works well considering the story. The film is all about atmosphere, and the director does a good job of racking up the tension in an effort to ensure that the endings works as it should. The characters are nothing to write home about, and the script doesn't do a very good job of balancing them with the plot. The mystery comes about through several small threads, and although the climax is easy to guess; it's fun getting there. The film benefits from several well worked set pieces, many of which involve the ghost of Sir Richard's first wife. The Gothic themes provide the film with a dark horror atmosphere and are sure to appeal to fans of gloomy horror. The acting is, like the characters, rather drab; and the unknown British cast don't do much to grab your attention. It's clear that Hartford-Davis wanted the film to be more like Roger Corman's The Fall of the House of Usher, as it features ideas such as a long line of family members, and also sees a scene set in a portrait gallery, much like the Vincent Price classic. Overall, it has to be said that The Black Torment is slightly disappointing; but fans of sixties Gothic are likely to find something to like here.

It is indicative of the problems of the writers,that in the last couple of minutes they have to include explanatory dialogue to explain the rather surprise denouement. Thoigh in fact it is not that surprisong when you think the plot through.

Robert Hartford-Davis interrupted his schedule of very contemporary exploitation pictures to make this rip-roaring hybrid of a modern Hammer psycho-drama and the sort of thing Bava and Freda were making on the continent, handsomely mounted in Eastmancolor with an interesting cast of familiar faces, old and new.

THE BLACK TORMENT (1964) is an early film in the career of director Robert Hartford-Davis, best known for his shocking later works like CORRUPTION and THE FIEND. This one is a much tamer effort that plays out as more of a spooky mystery than a horror film, although it has a couple of shock scenes in the latter half. The story involves a wealthy heir and his new bride returning to his ancestral home, only to discover a string of brutal murders plaguing the area - and his own household!

For a slow-moving mystery like this, it's not hard to work out the denouement, although there are a few surprises in store at the end. It looks and feels very much like a Hammer horror in terms of the 18th century setting and backdrop of aristocrats and working class servants. It also doesn't have much going for it, feeling a little tame and long-winded, and isn't one I'd watch a second time now that I know the outcome. It does also suffer from having a stiff lead in the form of John Turner, but the supporting cast, which includes Francis de Wolff, Peter Arne and Patrick Troughton, adds some colour. Certainly not a "bad" film per se, but one I struggle to get too excited about.

"Sir Richard" (John Turner) returns to his country estate with his new bride "Elizabeth" (Heather Sears) only to find himself immersed in rumours that he has been back for a while and that he might be responsible for some local murders (and for ordering a saddle with his late wife's name on it!). What now ensues is a brain teaser - how can he have been in two places at once? Perfectly sane and eminent people are claiming to have seen him in places where both he and his wife know he wasn't. What's occurring? His right hand man "Seymour" (Peter Arne) and his sister-in-law "Diane" (Ann Lynn) can shed little light on this - is he just going mad? Robert-Hartford Davis does redeem this to a certain extent in the last ten minutes, but otherwise it really doesn't create much menace. Like the best episodes of "Scooby-Do", you just know there is a sensible solution for the seemingly imponderable - and unfortunately, there are so few cast members here as to make the deduction fairly straightforward. The score tries far too hard to compensate for the lack of tension generated by the mediocre acting, and although the production itself looks ok - plenty of decent costumes and sets, the whole thing is just a bit flat. Just think of it as Hammer-lite!