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:

16 February 1968 (USA)

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

Filmed in england.

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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

Minor-scale thriller, lackluster but not bad...

Carol Lynley gives a good performance as a woman who returns to her childhood home on a British isle with her American husband in tow and is perplexed by the mysterious presence residing there. Screen-treatment of an H.P. Lovecraft story has too many sordid supporting characters, the heavy threat of rape, and an idiotic action sequence wherein hubby Gig Young takes down a few of the town toughs. Still, it offers a few suspenseful scenes, interesting parallels to the later "Straw Dogs", and a fine cast. Oliver Reed, sweaty and indecipherable as the most obnoxious of the villains, must've been heartsick at playing this same role again and again (he's offered no new opportunity to stretch), but Lynley and fatherly Young have a nice rapport. Overall, it's rather a lackluster thriller jazzed up with artistic cinematography and an overripe score, but the location shooting on the Norfolk Coast is good and the wrap-up satisfying. **1/2 from ****