La malédiction des Whateley

I too watched this film as an elderly child/young adult. Up to about the late 1970's, 'The Shuttered Room' was staple late-night stock on BBC 1 and ITV, usually on a Friday or Saturday night. Then, for some reason it has never shown again to date in this country, at least to my knowledge that is.

From memory (it is a long time ago, so forgive me, for any inaccuracies!)the movie(based on a story by HP Lovecraft) is supposed to be set in a small and isolated New England fishing village (it's really shot Cornwall in England) and concerns a young well-heeled woman (Carol Lynley), returning to her roots from a posh life in the big city, with her new husband (Gig Young), fter inheriting a (supposedly) abandoned and creepy old millhouse, that she used to live in as a child. Within that house, at the very top, hidden from normal view, is a heavily locked/bolted/nailed/chained mysterious room, that within contains a dreadful, appalling secret!!!

Back to the village, which appears to contain a lot of backward old yokels/hicks putting on dodgy American regional accents - as Lynley and Young appear to be the only actual American actors in it! Also there, lurks a gang of country bumpkinish uneducated thugs, led by a young and smouldering Oliver Reed. Reed and his cronies take an immediate and intense sexual interest in Lynley, and dislike to the monied, well-dressed, big car driving city boy Young.

Without spoiling the main plot (as one day, hopefully, the movie may be shown again), events progress with Lynley meeting up with her old Aunt (Aunt, I think) (Dame Flora Robson) who lives at the top of big tower, and who makes Norman Bates's mother appears sociable and outgoing! Robson is overseer and controller of what is in the shuttered room, that all too soon, the overly inquisitive Carol, will discover to her and everybody else's cost!

The climax to the film, is genuinely terrifying (well it was when I was 12!) and involves the nasty Reed and his cronies, pursuing Gig Young in a thrilling drive-you-off-the-road car chase, through Cornish country lanes, as he races back to try to get to Carol.

The actual end of the film centres on........on..... well, I can't tell you that now can I???

Suffice to say, many may mock the quality of director David Greene's Sixites flick, as typical of the sort of low(er) budget horror shocker movies that were made in great number then. But I think 'The Shuttered Room' had/has a lot more going for it than that, and if somebody would release it to the world again, would even today, be seen by many, as a well-made, well-acted (apart from the accents!) and genuinely scary piece of work.

Carol Lynley as a woman who returns to her childhood home on the British isles with her American husband in tow and is perplexed by the mysterious presence residing there. Screen-treatment of an H.P. Lovecraft story has too many sordid supporting characters, the heavy threat of rape, and an idiotic action sequence wherein hubby Gig Young takes down a few of the local toughs. Still, it offers a few suspenseful scenes, interesting parallels to the later "Straw Dogs", and a fine cast. Oliver Reed, sweaty and indecipherable as the most obnoxious of the villains, must've been heartsick at playing this same role again and again (he's offered no new opportunity to stretch), but Lynley and fatherly Young have a nice rapport. Overall, it's rather a lackluster thriller jazzed up with artistic cinematography and an overripe score, but the location shooting on the Norfolk Coast is good and the wrap-up satisfying. **1/2 from ****

As stated by several other folks here, I watched this movie with my twin sister when I was about 10 years old on the local station horror movie hour and was terrified by it. I remember it even now, how eerie the whole atmosphere of the movie was and the feeling of Carol Lynley's character being watched by some unseen but evil being, it really scared me as a child and I would love to watch it now to see if it would have the same impact. Probably not, but if you ever get the chance to see this film, I would encourage you to do so. Kind of weird too, Gig Young, who played the husband, went on to murder his wife in real life and then kill himself. Pretty weird.

I saw this film years ago when it used to air on independent TV stations in the afternoon & haven't seen it since. Pity because this is a good film. Unfortunately, it never made it to video.

In the early years of Reed's career he did mostly horror films where he was the "true Phantom Menace". He had a distintive glare that became his trademark. Well, he shows all that & then some in this film. This story centers around insanity, murder & family skeletons in the closet or in this case, in the shuttered room.

If you like "Jane Eyre", I think you will like this one.

weird hearing Sutherland's voice coming out of Zebulon odd casting two Brits in film as well as location Australian, Americans double for Young how'd she get bra back on? cool ending with aunt and 'thing' "The Shuttered Room" is a very good horror movie. It's consistently creepy and offered a few surprises.

The film is difficult to place. While some of the cast are Americans and the countryside looks a bit American (especially with the American car which is prominently seen throughout the film). But, the film also features some Brits and at least on Aussie--giving the film a rather strange pedigree. But, this is a minor concern.

"The Shuttered Room" begins in the past. Some weird creature is living in a house and has escaped--and Dad rushes off to return it to its attic lair. Now the film jumps ahead about 20 years. The young child in the beginning of the film has grown (now played by Carol Lynley) and has returned to this weird village after having been removed and raised in New York soon after the initial scene. She has now returned with her husband (Gig Young) to reclaim her home--one that apparently has sat gathering dust during this intervening period. But the family matriarch (Flora Robson) warns them not to enter the home...it's cursed! While you know that they will eventually move in to the home, in the meantime another evil force is afoot. The lady's cousin (Oliver Reed) is a bit of a sociopath and he and his friends seem bent on rape and/or murder--all for 'kicks'! So who should the couple fear--the cousin, the 'thing that is in the attic' or both?

Overall, the film does a great job of setting a creepy mood and providing lots of terror for the couple. The acting isn't bad, though the idea of Young playing an action hero seemed a bit silly--as did the bad use of a double in his fight scenes (it's so obviously NOT him). Howver, the good easily outweighs the bad and it's well worth your time if you like creepy movies...and I do.

By the way, early in the film it was rather disconcerting to hear Zebulon speak, as it clearly was NOT his voice but Donald Sutherland's! I am not sure why they had him dub this man, but he is listed in the IMDb credits for this.