Herança Maldita

"Dark Places" begins with an elderly man dying in some sort of asylum. Soon Edward (Robert Hardy) moves into the abandoned mansion owned by the dead man, as apparently he willed the place to him. The place is an absolute mess and looks as if it's sat derelict for decades. Supposedly, within the manor is some sort of hidden fortune...and folks who run the asylum ALSO want to get their hands on the money. The problem is that the longer Edward stays there, the longer ghosts from the manor begin to take over the drive him over the edge. How will all this end?

The main story idea isn't bad at all. But the way the story is handled technically is pretty bad. All the 'special effects' that show you Edward is experiencing bad things are more annoying and hard on the brain than anything else. The worst is at the 100 minute mark as well as those ultra-cheesy bats...they just look cheap and stupid. Overall, not a terrible movie but one that also isn't very good and is, surprisingly, a bit dull.

This 1973 UK thriller sees Robert Hardy (who had previously starred in Hammer's "Demons of the Mind") play Edward Foster, the former Head of an Asylum who gets called to a patient's - Andrew Marr's - death bed, and ends up inheriting his house where a significant amount of money is hidden. This prompts certain interested parties to become part of Foster's life, namely a scheming brother and sister and the estate's solicitor; however, the house's murderous past comes back to haunt them all....

Despite some clichéd elements to the script (cynical townsfolk; noises reverberating around the house etc.) this is a film which clearly had a lot of potential on paper but it really doesn't get out of first gear until the last half hour when the central themes of the plot become clearer. The interweaving of past and present with Hardy interchanging between both Foster (present) and Marr (from the past) in certain sequences is hardly seamless and is patchily handled.

On reflection, the supporting cast don't really get that much to do considering that the 3 of them (played by Christopher Lee, Joan Collins and Herbert Lom) are all hell-bent on finding the money. Lee in particular seems to be more of peripheral figure than you would have expected.

Perhaps another thing to undermine it's psychologically thrilling aspirations is the script-writers' under-appreciation and under-usage of the story's more substantial "horror" or "thriller" elements occurring at night. It clearly dilutes the central thrills of the film.

Hardy does a decent job of portraying the gradual decline in sanity of his characterisation; and due to its little-known status this film might well be worth a look at, but to my mind, it could have been handled and executed a lot better.

This film is rather entertaining but the chills are pretty weak. However, it has strong leads by Robert Hardy and Christopher Lee. I bought this video for five bucks at the Reject Shop, so what was I expecting? Not much, obviously.

As far as I know, director Don Sharp, from the same genetation as Terence Fisher, Freddie Francis, Val Guest and Sidney Hayers, did not direct any horror films, except KISS OF THE VAMPIRE, CURSE OF THE FLY, and this one, an haunted mansion scheme film, his first. Don Sharp was a damn good and efficient film maker, very professional, and he had no proper style. He also made some AVENGERS series episodes, as John Hough, who also made a good haunted mansion mystery yarrn: LEGEND OF HELL, same year as this one. Nothing to do, concerning this one - DARK PLACES - with the today THE CONJURING or SINISTER US films series. It remains British but so efficient without being really horrific. It remains more a psychological drama than a pure horror film.

Unmemorable by-the-numbers haunted house flick with a great cast (Joan Collins, Christopher Lee, Herbert Lom, Jean Marsh, Jane Birkin) and decent story that could and should have been better. But unfortunately it is bogged down by its less than stellar direction, uncharismatic camera work and lame main actor Robert Hardy, who is about as interesting as a Saltine cracker...without the salt, of course. Lee & Collins play an unscrupulous couple trying to manipulate their hands onto the money that is hidden somewhere inside of the Marr Estate mansion which has just been willed to Robert Foster (played by Hardy) by its original tenant Andrew Marr (also played by Hardy) whose family was killed inside of the house and now is haunting it. Herbert Lom is the next door neighbor who is sort of helpful, but also wouldn't mind getting the cash into his pockets. If you didn't know better, you'd think this was a made-for-TV film, virtually wasting its great locations by filming the goings on as you would a family reunion. And again, there is too much Hardy and not enough Lee, Collins or Lom. But if you are a fan of haunted house films or British horror, there are certainly worse options out there. Then again, there are much better.