‘The high priestess of evil… a monstrous fiend with an overpowering lust for blood…’
Curse of the Crimson Altar is a 1968 British horror film directed by Vernon Sewell (Ghost Ship; The Blood Beast Terror; Burke & Hare). It stars Christopher Lee, Boris Karloff, Barbara Steele, Virginia Wetherell, Michael Gough and Mark Eden. The film was produced by Louis M. Heyward for Tony Tenser’s Tigon British Film Productions. It was cut by AIP and released as The Crimson Cult in the United States. It is based (uncredited) on the short story “The Dreams in the Witch House” by H. P. Lovecraft.
Plot teaser: Robert Manning (Mark Eden) goes in search of his brother, who was last known to have visited the remote house of Craxted Lodge at Greymarsh. Arriving at night, he finds a party is in progress, and he is invited to stay by Eve (Virginia Wetherell), the niece of the owner of the house.
His sleep is restless and strange dreams of ritual sacrifice disturb him. Enquiring about his brother, he is assured by the house owner Morley (Christopher Lee) that the man is not here. But Manning’s suspicions are aroused further by his nightmarish hallucinations. When occult expert Professor Marshe (Boris Karloff) informs Manning about a witchcraft cult based around the ancestral Lavinia Morley (Barbara Steele), the cult is uncovered…
Reviews:
“Karloff himself, cadaverous and almost wholly crippled, acts with a quiet lucidity of such great beauty that it is a refreshment merely to hear him speak old claptrap. Nothing else in The Crimson Cult comes close to him—though there is Barbara Steele in greenface playing Lavinia, a glamorous 300-year-old and a monumental cast that lists no fewer than seven-party girls, plus several sacrificial virgins.” Roger Greenspun, The New York Times (1970)
” … this is one of the lamest and tamest horrors in a long time…” Monthly Film Bulletin
“Coquillon, the talented cinematographer of Michael Reeves Witchfinder General (1968) , devised all kinds of innovative ways of lighting the house and achieves results superior to many studio-lit productions… The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror
“The Crimson Cult’s pedigree is no doubt impressive–in addition to the aforementioned cast members, it can also boast Michael Gough creeping around as the shady butler. Its script is also vaguely based on Lovecraft’s “Dreams of the Witch House,” which Stuart Gordon would later adapt for a Masters of Horror episode. Lovecraft’s story is ultimately much more disturbing than this adaptation, which features very little on screen violence, though Wetherell does flash exactly one of her breasts and her entire bare ass, both of which likely felt scandalous in their day…” Brett Gallman, Oh, the Horror!
Location:
The house used for Craxted Lodge is Grim’s Dyke, the allegedly haunted former home of William S. Gilbert, located in Redding, Harrow Weald, Middlesex, London. The building, which is now a hotel, was used for both exterior and interior shots.
Trivia: One of Dübreq’s late 1970s Horror Top Trumps game decks contained a card called “High Priestess of Zoltan” that was clearly modelled (unlicensed) on Barbara Steele‘s Lavinia Morley.
Tony Tenser, Vernon Sewell, script lady, Christopher Lee and Boris Karloff
Cast:
- Christopher Lee – Morley
- Boris Karloff – Professor Marshe
- Mark Eden – Robert Manning
- Barbara Steele – Lavinia Morley
- Michael Gough – Elder
- Virginia Wetherell – Eve
- Rosemarie Reede – Esther
- Derek Tansley – Judge
- Michael Warren – Chauffeur
- Ron Pember – Petrol attendant
- Denys Peek – Peter Manning
- Rupert Davies – The Vicar
