Horrors of the Black Museum (1959)

The promotion announced that this film was released in "Hypnovision" which gives an idea of the story. A frustrated thriller writer wants accurate crimes for his next book so he hypnotises ... See full summary »

Director:

Arthur Crabtree

Writers:

Herman Cohen, Aben Kandel

Stars:

Michael Gough, June Cunningham, Graham Curnow

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michael Gough	...	Edmond Bancroft
June Cunningham	...	Joan Berkley
Graham Curnow	...	Rick
Shirley Anne Field	...	Angela Banks
Geoffrey Keen	...	Supt. Graham
Gerald Anderson	...	Dr. Ballan
John Warwick	...	Insp. Lodge
Beatrice Varley	...	Aggie
Austin Trevor	...	Commissioner Wayne
Malou Pantera	...	Peggy (Gail's roommate)
Howard Greene	...	Tom Rivers
Dorinda Stevens	...	Gail Dunlap
Stuart Saunders	...	Strength-Test Barker
Hilda Barry	...	Woman in Hall
Nora Gordon	...	Woman in Hall

Storyline

The promotion announced that this film was released in "Hypnovision" which gives an idea of the story. A frustrated thriller writer wants accurate crimes for his next book so he hypnotises his assistant to make him commit the required crimes.

---

Plot Keywords:

assistant | police | park bench | stabbed in the eye | decapitation | 

---

Taglines:

SEE! The Fantastic Binocular Murder! SEE! The Vat of Death!

---

Genres:

Horror

---

Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 November 1959 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Crimes au musée des horreurs

Filming Locations:

Battersea Fun Fair, Battersea Park, Battersea, London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Carmel Productions, Merton Park Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was the first American International release to be in both color and Cinemascope.

---

Quotes

Bancroft: No woman can hold her tongue. They're a vicious, unreliable breed!

---

Connections

Referenced in Dr. G and the Bikini Machine (1965)

User Reviews

Disappointing.

Long unavailable on video and seldom if ever shown on television, 'Horrors Of The Black Museum' has long been a movie I wanted to see. The recent United Kingdom DVD release provided myself with my first opportunity, sadly it turned out to be an anti-climax, as this movie turned out to be the weakest of Anglo-Amalgamated's 'Sadian' trilogy.

Lacking the cinematic poetry of 'Peeping Tom' and the pulp verve of 'Circus Of Horrors', this is a very flat movie, with even the murders themselves failing to make any impact. This is down to a combination of very bad acting, which ranges from Michael Gough hamming it up to the very wooden acting of Cunningham and Field (only Geoffrey Keene gives anything resembling a good performance, yet even he seems bored with the material) and a very laughable script. The actors struggle with poor dialogue, while the narrative doesn't seem to know whether it's a mystery or not (it's obvious who the murder is right from his first appearance yet we are expected to be shocked when he's identity is revealed).

The only positive point about this movie is its splendid Eastmancolor look, but aside from that it is both flat and dull. One for die-hard fans only.