Le Spectre maudit

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.

BLACK TORMENT was a movie I read about in books on British horror films but it was one which I had never seen until I was recently able to rent it locally. I was so impressed that I went out and bought it. It's not a classic but it is very well done. BLACK TORMENT was made in 1964 by a small production called Compton headed up by Tony Tenser who would eventually start one of Hammer's main competitors Tigon Films (makers of WITCHFINDER GENERAL, BLOOD ON SATAN'S CLAW) later in the decade.

Compton produced some interesting films in the mid-1960s including Roman Polanski's REPULSION, The Sherlock Holmes meets Jack the Ripper thriller A STUDY IN TERROR and George Harrison's WONDERWALL. BLACK TORMENT was obviously an attempt to cash in on the success of Hammer Films and the film turns out to be not such much a horror film as a Gothic one like those being produced in Italy with Barbara Steele (CASTLE OF BLOOD, NIGHTMARE CASTLE) although not as gruesome. In fact it was of the few true English Gothic movies that I've seen as it comes straight out of the tradition of Ann Radcliffe and Horace Walpole.

The plot is standard Gothic stuff. An 18th century nobleman returns to his family estate only to be told that he's been there before and committed murder. He begins to see the ghost of his first wife and starts to doubt his own sanity. Meanwhile more murders occur. If you're a fan of Gothic literature you'll have a pretty good idea of how this all turns out but I won't spoil it for you. The film is beautifully shot which comes as no surprise since the cameraman is Peter Newbrook who would later direct the atmospheric Victorian shocker THE ASPHYX.

The real surprise is that the director is Robert Hartford-Davis who would go on to make CORRUPTION and BLOOD SUCKERS (INCENSE FOR THE DAMNED) two very different films in terms of style and content. All were photographed by Newbrook so there is that connecting thread. Although there are no major genre stars, the costumes are appropriate, the settings atmospheric (inside and out), and the music is effective. A good, old-fashioned Gothic thriller that really entertains if you're into this sort of thing. This Redemption DVD of BLACK TORMENT looks very good but I'm sure there's a better print out there somewhere...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.

After all, WITCHFINDER GENERAL was not a Hammer production either and it will remain a pure golden masterpiece, the best film about witch hunt. So this gothic horror film set in seventieth century England is a good discovery for sixties horror fans, British or not. And the director was not a horror film maker, he was not Freddie Francis, Terence Fisher, Roy Ward Baker, Gordon Hessler, Peter Sasby, UK horror specialists. CORRUPTION, INCENSE FOR THE DAMNED and THE FIEND, will be the only horror films, besides this one, that he will give us. For the rest of his filmography, you have some comedies and also Blaxploitation movies in the seventies, shortly before his death. The story of this one is not that unusual, we have seen this kind of more or less same topic many times before and despite this, the boredom is absent, it is a prettyeffective horror movie.

"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!

Robert Hartford-Davis("Corruption","The Fiend")directed this little gem of horror in 1964.Admittedly the action is pretty slow,but still the film has some eerie moments-especially the beginning is very creepy.The ghostly bits are well-done and the ending is a bit confusing.The acting is acceptable and the film has one or two unsettling moments.So if you like British horror movies "The Black Torment" is worth checking out! Recommended!