Le cercueil vivant

"The Oblong Box" is about what you'd expect. Like "Witchfinder General" (aka "The Conqueror Worm") the previous year, a lot of it seems to be going for shock value. Vincent Price plays a 19th-century nobleman keeping his disfigured brother locked in a room...only then the brother manages to escape. There's some violence (although I wouldn't call it gore) and no shortage of women with bug-eyed, frightened looks on their faces.

As with the other 1960s horror flicks based on Edgar Allan Poe stories -- although this one is not part of Roger Corman's series -- the movie only uses the title and is otherwise unrelated to the original story. There's certainly nothing special about the movie, except that it was the first pairing of Vincent Price and Christopher Lee. Otherwise, Corman's movies are the ones that I recommend.

Also starring Rupert Davies, Peter Arne, Sally Geeson and Hilary Dwyer.

This was going to be the fourth film directed by Michael Reeves ("Witchfinder General," "The Sorcerers," "She Beast"), who's a filmmaker I'm fascinated by, mostly because of the three intriguing horror films he directed before his untimely death. None of these films were horror classics, but they were unique stories and were more of an edge than most horror films of this era. I was particularly taken with "Witchfinder General" where Vincent Price gave a rare non-hammy performance and was terrific. "The Oblong Box" would have again paired Price and Reeves, but sadly Reeves died due to an accidental overdose during pre-production. Veteran horror director Gordon Hessler took over and made the film more in line with the previous AIP Poe film adaptations, which isn't a bad thing, but it's disappointing to not see what Reeves would have brought to this cycle of films. In this Poe tale, Vincent Price's brother, Alister Williamson, is buried alive, and then reappears wearing a red mask, exacting his bloody revenge. Overall, this film is not as classy or smart as the Roger Corman Poe films, but it's entertaining none-the-less.

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.

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.

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.