The Shuttered Room (1967)

Director:

David Greene

Writers:

August Derleth (book)
D.B. Ledrov (writer)

Release Date:

February 1969 (France)

Genre:

Horror

Plot:

A series of horrific murders is traced to a creature that inhabits a very strange house. |

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Stockings | H.P. Lovecraft | Locked Room | Island

Cast

Gig Young	...	Mike Kelton
Carol Lynley	...	Susannah Whately Kelton / Sarah
Oliver Reed	...	Ethan
Flora Robson	...	Aunt Agatha
Judith Arthy	...	Emma
Rick Jones
Ann Bell
William Devlin	...	Zebulon Whately
Charles Lloyd Pack	...	Barge Master
Bernard Kay	...	Tait
Celia Hewitt	...	Aunt Sarah
Robert Cawdron	...	Luther Whately
Murray Evans
Cliff Diggins		(as Clifford Diggins)
Peter Porteous

Also Known As:

Blood Island (USA)

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Hardingham, Norfolk, England, UK

Company:

Seven Arts Productions

Not exactly August Derleth's story, but a decent and somewhat creepy film

I saw "The Shuttered Room" some time ago, & I didn't like it. Now that it's been released on DVD (with "It!"), I watched it again & found that I enjoyed it much more upon another viewing.

A man and his wife (Gig Young and Carol Lynley) go to a small island where the woman grew up. She was sent away from there many years ago, as a child, because her guardian didn't want her to grow up there after her parents mysteriously died. The island is home to the Whately clan, who, if you've read any Lovecraft, are not exactly the kind of people you'd want for kinfolk. I particularly liked the "dirt skiing" scene, where the man being towed on a wooden platform behind a pickup, is whipped into a bunch of barbed wire, when the truck makes a sudden (and deliberate) turn.

The couple are to stay at "the old mill", a rather creepy place where the woman lived as a child, and the islanders say there's something wrong with that place. It also doesn't take long for the creepy locals to latch on to Susannah, being that she's very young and pretty, and one in particular, Ethan (Oliver Reed) seems to fancy her. Of course, despite the fact that he's rather middle aged, her hubby Mike does pretty well at mopping the floor with these guys. And, there is Susannah's rather creepy Aunt Agatha (Flora Robson), who knows the secrets of the island, AND the mill, but isn't telling.

Eventually the secrets of the mill are revealed, and it's a bit disappointing, to say the least...but still, the film has a decent atmosphere of dread to it, and while the island appears to be beautiful it's also a bit creepy. A decent mid-60's Seven Arts release, and worth seeing if you like your films creepy rather than gory. 7 out of 10.