A war veteran from a wealthy but troubled New England family is suspected in a series of brutal murders in his small town.A war veteran from a wealthy but troubled New England family is suspected in a series of brutal murders in his small town.A war veteran from a wealthy but troubled New England family is suspected in a series of brutal murders in his small town.
Sylvia Miles
- Silvia
- (as Silvia Miles)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaFilm itself bears 1962 copyright but earliest documented release dates (to date) are 1963.
- SoundtracksBlack Autumn
Arranged and Sung by Molly Scott
Featured review
Yes, We Have NO Axed Murders
Sinister Cinema carries this title and like IMDb, they insist it contains "axe murders galore." In fact, there is not one single axe murder in the entire film. The first murder is by shotgun and the rest are by kitchen knife and filmed in such a tame and un-graphic way as to make it sometimes unclear whether the murder actually took place.
This is an extremely low budget and amateur attempt at a murder mystery. Probably due to budgetary limitations (and the film maker's inexperience) it is shot so thin one can easily see the difficulties the editor had putting it together.
While I can forgive the lack of funds it is harder to excuse the script. You will know who the guilty party is almost immediately. Throughout the film, clues are presented in such an obvious and over-stated manner as to leave no doubt in your mind. Consequently, there is no "big surprise" when the killer's identity is revealed.
Another problem is the premise itself. The movie is clearly aimed at skirt-chasing heterosexual males who presumably accept a virtually all-female cast constantly trying to seduce the male lead. The first 14 minutes of the film are a tedious exercise in redundancy and implausibility, as our hero is flirted with by no less than six wannabe vamps.
All these things aside, there are some pleasures to be had here. Lee Phillips, while completely wasted in such a poorly written role, nevertheless is talented enough to make his scenes plausible. A young James Farentino also shows promise in an early part as a thug. Although made in 1963, there is an abundance of late 1950s mood and style on display, which would completely evaporate by the following year when the producers made "Horror of Party Beach."
A roughly-hewn, crude movie likely to disappoint you if you're searching for a forgotten-gem type film.
This is an extremely low budget and amateur attempt at a murder mystery. Probably due to budgetary limitations (and the film maker's inexperience) it is shot so thin one can easily see the difficulties the editor had putting it together.
While I can forgive the lack of funds it is harder to excuse the script. You will know who the guilty party is almost immediately. Throughout the film, clues are presented in such an obvious and over-stated manner as to leave no doubt in your mind. Consequently, there is no "big surprise" when the killer's identity is revealed.
Another problem is the premise itself. The movie is clearly aimed at skirt-chasing heterosexual males who presumably accept a virtually all-female cast constantly trying to seduce the male lead. The first 14 minutes of the film are a tedious exercise in redundancy and implausibility, as our hero is flirted with by no less than six wannabe vamps.
All these things aside, there are some pleasures to be had here. Lee Phillips, while completely wasted in such a poorly written role, nevertheless is talented enough to make his scenes plausible. A young James Farentino also shows promise in an early part as a thug. Although made in 1963, there is an abundance of late 1950s mood and style on display, which would completely evaporate by the following year when the producers made "Horror of Party Beach."
A roughly-hewn, crude movie likely to disappoint you if you're searching for a forgotten-gem type film.
helpful•12
- billoneil2
- May 21, 2015
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Black Autumn
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $42,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 33 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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