A Maldição do Altar Escarlate

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

This routine horror film has something of a maligned reputation (Christopher Lee himself refers to it as being "dreadful" in the accompanying interview), but the remarkable credits involved - stars Boris Karloff, Lee, Barbara Steele, Michael Gough and Rupert Davies, director Sewell and cameraman John Coquillon - and the familiar plot elements involving witchcraft make the concoction quite irresistible.

The stars are generally well cast: Karloff is given a great entrance and his character is amusingly acerbic, particularly with regards to bland leading man Mark Eden; Lee basically repeats his role - though here is given greater screen-time - from the superior black-and-white classic THE CITY OF THE DEAD (1960); Steele (in another of her long line of witches!) only appears in various characters' hallucinations - but this, and the fact that she's painted green all over and saddled with a silly horned head-dress, in no way undermines her peculiar beauty and commanding presence; Gough, however, is wasted as a vaguely sinister yet dim-witted manservant; Davies, too, is underused in an all-too-typical vicar role (though his belated involvement does bring about Lee's come-uppance); Virginia Wetherell isn't bad as Lee's niece, who's unaware of his secret lifestyle (despite herself having a predilection for throwing wild parties in their mansion, giving rise to some hilariously dated grooviness!), endangers her own life by falling for Eden practically at first sight (thus incurring Lee's wrath) and even appears briefly in the nude (this was her film debut!). There's nothing remotely memorable about the film (except, maybe, some of its imagery in the scenes where Steele shows up or, rather, is manifested) and can only be seen as a major disappointment given the enormous talent on hand - though the main culprit has to be its lazy scripting, since all the stars have treaded this path too many times before!

Lee's interview about Karloff is one of his most interesting and affectionate: I was surprised to learn that he considered SON OF FRANKENSTEIN (1939) the best of Karloff's three stabs at the role of The Creature (though I adore the film myself), but he also erroneously mentioned that Karloff and Bela Lugosi had made a film called "Pit And The Pendulum" (which the interviewer - who I assume to be Marcus Hearn - didn't correct...but, then, nor could he help Lee when the latter asked whether the Karloff vehicle in which the actor played twins was called THE BLACK ROOM [1935]!; in this regard, I have to say that I'm irked no end every time an interviewer shows up without having done any preparation about his subject!!). It's also disappointing, to us genre fans, that the great horror stars never discussed their work amongst themselves (at least, according to Lee), as it would have been awesome to know just what they felt about it - and themselves for doing such films!

The DVD quality is on a par with the two recent DD Video releases I watched - ISLAND OF TERROR (1966) and NIGHT OF THE BIG HEAT (1967) - and, like the former, has been trimmed slightly for this edition! Having watched all of them now, I'm almost sorry that I didn't pick up DD Video's THE BLOOD-BEAST TERROR (1967) and THE DEVIL'S MEN (1975) as well...and even more that I didn't order their SE of THE CREEPING FLESH (1972) earlier, since I've never watched it and is now practically impossible to find in this guise - having unceremoniously gone out-of-print!!

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.

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.

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.