The Shuttered Room (1967)

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

Director:

David Greene

Writers:

August Derleth (book), D.B. Ledrov

Stars:

Oliver Reed, Gig Young, Carol Lynley

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gig Young	...	Mike Kelton
Carol Lynley	...	Susannah Whately Kelton / Sarah
Oliver Reed	...	Ethan
Flora Robson	...	Aunt Agatha
Judith Arthy	...	Emma
Rick Jones	...	Luther Whately
Ann Bell	...	Mary Whately, Susannah's Mother
William Devlin	...	Zebulon Whately
Charles Lloyd Pack	...	Barge Master
Bernard Kay	...	Tait
Celia Hewitt	...	Aunt Sarah
Robert Cawdron	...	John Whately, Susannah's Father
Murray Evans	...	Gang Member
Cliff Diggins	...	Gang Member (as Clifford Diggins)
Peter Porteous	...	Gang Member

Storyline

In a small island off the American coast, the Whateleys live in an old mill where a mysterious bloody being creates an atmosphere of horror. After her parents get killed by lightning, young Susannah is sent to New York by her aunt Agatha, who wants her to avoid the family curse. Years later Susannah, now married, persuades her husband to spend a holiday in the abandoned mill. Once on the island, Susannah and Mike soon find themselves exposed to the hostility of a gang of thugs led by Ethan, Susannah's brutal cousin...

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Plot Keywords:

aunt | female stockinged legs | suntan pantyhose | pantyhose | putting on stockings | 

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Taglines:

Sleep one night in the house with the shuttered room and you may never want to sleep again... (original theatrical poster)

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 May 1967 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Blood Island

Filming Locations:

Twickenham Film Studios, St Margarets, Twickenham, Middlesex, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Seven Arts Productions,Troy-Schenck Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

William Devlin's part was entirely dubbed by the uncredited Donald Sutherland.

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Goofs

Throughout the movie the two rear windows of the Thunderbird are alternately up or down. This happens often in the same scene. It is first noticeable as they back off the ferry. As they back up, the passenger side rear window is up and the driver's is down. But as they as turning around upon leaving the ferry, the driver's side rear window is up and the passenger's is down. This becomes very noticeable throughout the film.

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Connections

Featured in Trailer Trauma 2: Drive-In Monsterama (2016)

User Reviews

A good short film dragged out to feature length

The problem with SHUTTERED ROOM is that the writer and director seem to be making two films side by side.

The first is a standard "haunted house" flick, where an innocent couple come to claim an old mill house that everyone in the neighborhood seems afraid of. That plot, with its prologue and resolution, would have made a decent TV episode.

But there's also a sort of backwoods British "Deliverance" film happening at the same time, where some slack-jawed character actors (doing pretty good American accents), led by the always menacing Oliver Reed, try to lure the lovely Carol Lynley away from her seemingly clueless husband, Gig Young. You'd think that Gig would catch on earlier and keep his wife on a short leash (for her own safety). But no...she's always putting herself at risk and even Gig's silly karate skills can't always save her.

HP Lovecraft fans will look in vain for the touch of "the master," since this film is based loosely on a story clapped together by August Derleth, best known for picking the literary bones of the Lovecraft estate.

This film could have fallen in the same category as WICKER MAN; even the look of the film shares some similarities. But it's nowhere near as eerie, and without the visceral punch.