The Hellfire Club (1961)

Years after fleeing his ancestral home with his mother, Jason returns home to claim his birthright, only to find his way blocked by his evil cousin Thomas. In order to reclaim his title, ... See full summary »

Directors:

Robert S. Baker, Monty Berman

Writers:

Jimmy Sangster (story), Jimmy Sangster (screenplay)

Stars:

Keith Michell, Adrienne Corri, Peter Cushing

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Keith Michell	...	Jason Caldwell
Adrienne Corri	...	Lady Isobel
Peter Cushing	...	Mr. Merryweather
Peter Arne	...	Thomas - Earl of Netherden
Kai Fischer	...	Yvonne
David Lodge	...	Timothy
Bill Owen	...	Martin
Miles Malleson	...	Judge
Martin Stephens	...	Jason Junior
Jean Lodge	...	Lady Netherden
Francis Matthews	...	Sir Hugh Manning
Desmond Walter-Ellis	...	Lord Chorley (as Desmond Walter Ellis)
Denis Shaw	...	Sir Richard Benlow
Tutte Lemkow	...	Higgins
Rupert Osborne	...	Thomas Junior

Storyline

Years after fleeing his ancestral home with his mother, Jason returns home to claim his birthright, only to find his way blocked by his evil cousin Thomas. In order to reclaim his title, Jason must do battle with his cousin, who calls upon the members of the deadly Hellfire Club to stop him.

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Plot Keywords:

ancestral home | nudity | skinny dipping | female nudity | bath | 

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Taglines:

[print ad] Her body was her membership card in THE HELL FIRE CLUB

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Genres:

Adventure

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

September 1963 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Pokoltüze klub

Company Credits

Production Co:

New World Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

The real Hellfire Club was a group of 18th century aristocrats dedicated to the violation of local virgins.

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Alternate Versions

When originally released theatrically in the UK, the BBFC made cuts to secure a 'U' rating. All cuts were waived in 2012 when the film was granted a '12' certificate for home video.

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Connections

Referenced in Demonlover (2002)

User Reviews

Routine swashbuckling adventure.

THE HELLFIRE CLUB is often wrongly sighted as a Hammer Films production probably because the film was written by Jimmy Sangster and features Peter Cushing in the cast. (I found this film on the Hammer Films shelf at my local video store.) In this adventure set in 1700's, Jason (Keith Mitchell) is driven out of his family estate after his mother is killed and raised by a band of circus performers. When Jason returns to claim his birthright as Lord of Netherden Castle, he discovers it has been taken over by his evil cousin Thomas (Peter Arne) who is a member of the nefarious 18th century secret society The Hellfire Club. With much Errol Flynn style derring do and a capture and an escape, Jason is able to rightfully claim his birthright and expose an evil conspiracy against the crown by the French and the wicked noblemen of The Hellfire Club.

Despite The Hellfire Clubs reputation (the real life secret society, not the film) for depravity and debauchery, mostly what we see of it in the film is pretty tame, even by 1960 standards. The orgy sequence that includes several scantly clad buxom babes in harem outfits is done tongue in cheek and looks as if the films makers were spoofing a harem sequence from some Maria Montez Arabian knights epic. Keith Mitchell as Jason is a bit stiff at times but he performs the sometimes cartoonish heroics convincingly. Peter Cushing is fine as usual in a rather small role as Merryweather. The film has nice production values and moves at a good pace, but overall THE HELLFIRE CLUB is just another movie.