The Curse of The Crimson Altar (1968)
The legendary Boris Karloff in what was deemed his final film role plays Professor Marsh, an academic in Witchcraft. Marsh along with Robert Manning played by Mark Eden, who is searching for his brother, investigate the possibility that Witchcraft is still being practiced in the sleepy English village of Greymarsh, by descendants of a powerful Witch burned alive at the stake centuries earlier.
Based on H.P. Lovecraft's tale
Dreams in the Witch House and made by Tigon Films who at the time were seen as competitors to Hammer in the Gothic stakes however their mere six years as a production company meant they never really achieved that goal despite producing some absolute gems such as
The Blood Beast Terror,
Witchfinder General (Both 1968),
Neither the Sea Nor the Sand (1972) and the terrific
Blood on Satan's Claw in 1971.
Unfortunately for Boris Karloff he was wheelchair bound for the production but still encapsulates each scene he is in with a huge sense of gravitas. Ably supported by an excellent cast - Christopher Lee, Eden, an unusually good Michael Gough and Barbara Steele, and first rate production values especially the eerie occult scenes which are lit with a green hue and involve some genuinely strange characters including a big breasted dominatrix, a goatman and a strong man in a leather thong.
Whilst the film is probably bot top tier British horror it's entertaining enough and i've enjoyed it several times over the years. It also includes one of the best lines of dialogue from the period in which Mark Eden's Robert Manning is talking to Eve Morley (Virginia Wetherall) about the house he has just been invited to stay in by JD Morley (Christopher Lee)
Eve Morley -
Its like a house from one of those old horror films.. Robert Manning -
It's like Boris Karloff is going to pop up at any moment
The Screenbound Blu-ray is stunning in the quality of it's picture. There's real depth and the image is beautifully sharp. One of the best Blu-rays i've seen recently.
Just read DvD Beaver's review of the disc and they say it's 'adequate' in picture quality. WTF were they watching it on? A black and white portable?