‘A thoughts so evil it may lock its horrible secret inside an exquisite physique’
Crucible of Terror is a 1971 British horror movie about an obsessed sculptor who kills a younger girl to create a bronze sculpture of her. Years later at his secluded residence, plenty of individuals turn out to be trapped in an online of revenge, homicide and horror.
Directed by Ted Hooker from a screenplay co-written with producer Tom Parkinson. Peter Newbrook (director of The Asphyx) was government producer and cinematographer.
The Glendale Movie Productions film stars Mike Raven, Mary Maude, James Bolam and Ronald Lacey (Raiders of the Misplaced Ark).
Plot:
Jack Davies (James Bolam), an artwork vendor from London, does a cope with a good friend of his Michael Clare (Ronald Lacey), the son of a gifted artist Victor Clare (Mike Raven). Michael smuggles out a few of his father’s works and Davies sells them for a big sum at his gallery, splitting the revenue between them. Davies and Michael Clare are each in want of more cash and realising that Victor Clare’s works are value a fortune they determine to amass some extra.
Sadly, Victor Clare is a recluse, who lives in isolation in Jericho Valley which is above an deserted tin mine in Cornwall. As it could be not possible to smuggle out any extra of the work with out being seen, Davies decides to supply the artist a deal for laborious money.
They journey to Cornwall with their wives, and so they discover it an odd and disconcerting expertise. Victor Clare’s spouse has regressed right into a second childhood, whereas he spends his time having affairs along with his fashions. The one sense of normality is outwardly supplied by Invoice, Victor’s solely good friend, who cooks dinner for them…
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Critiques:
” …pleasantly eccentric variation on the house-of-wax theme […] For its climax, the image shifts right into a dreamlike environment, with the mad artist mixing multicoloured concoctions in his cave studio suffused with the glow of the menacing furnace.” Phil Hardy (editor), The Aurum Movie Encyclopedia: Horror
“That is on no account a basic – it’s a form of humourless model of Corman’s A Bucket of Blood – the dialogue is weak, and the hurried, muddled ending will in all probability depart you a bit dissatisfied, however that is nonetheless good enjoyable, and price waiting for Raven’s efficiency – and to listen to his splendidly ‘fruity’ voice…” B&S About Films
“As soon as once more (as with so many of those movies) whether or not you take pleasure in Cruc
ible of Terror is determined by your frame of mind while watching it. Entertaining garbage is perhaps the easiest way of describing it. And it’s important to give full marks to Raven, actually. He’s too candy to be a baddie, however he saved on attempting…” British Horror Movies
“Contemplating that is Ted Hooker’s one and solely movie, it’s spectacular how competent the manufacturing is. The places are beautiful and illustrate the isolation of the realm, projecting a real feeling of unease; it actually doesn’t harm that the thought of “going to the seashore” in England equates to stumbling round on some perilously sharp rocks on the backside of a cliff whereas the ocean threatens to brush you away to a watery grave at any given second.” The Church of Splatter-Day Saints
“There’s a little bit of a twist ending, however it’s executed poorly – the twist scene is brief, then in what appears lower than one minute, the premise of the twist is defined rapidly within the method of a standard thriller, full with “revealed identification” photographs of the murders, then bang, it’s over. Once more, Crucible of Terror isn’t a nasty film, nevertheless it’s not something too particular both.” Basic Horror
“Sunny out of doors scenes dominate the early scenes. Folks wandering alongside cliffs and seashores. However a palpable claustrophobia more and more stifles us because the story progresses. The latter scenes happen at night time or underground within the mine, paralleling the more and more disagreeable home scenario and Victor’s intensifying flirtations towards Millie.” Communist Vampires
“Regardless of the comparisons typically made to Home of Wax, I nonetheless assume this may simply be seemed upon as a giallo by means of the UK if there may be such a factor. Crucible of Terror could also be crude on the outset, however for many who assume British horror is merely the frequent Hammer monsters and Amicus omnibuses, assume outdoors the field and provides this a glance.” DVD Drive-In
“Maybe as a result of the dialogue typically telegraphs occasions, the stress degree doesn’t appear to construct, at the same time as the assorted company start to vanish. Any person is stabbing them to loss of life, battering them with stones and tossing acid of their faces. When the thriller is lastly revealed, it seems to be an advanced mixture of sadism, religious possession and a revenge motif.” DVD Discuss
“The Cornish places are straightforward on the attention and a few of the supporting actors are superb worth, notably James Bolam, and fourteen years after her glorious efficiency in Dracula, Melissa Stribling. However the movie is poorly paced, visibly under-budgeted at £100,000 and, worse nonetheless, its insane protagonist is performed by the uniquely wood Mike Raven.” Jonathan Rigby, English Gothic
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“On occasion, the befuddling character interaction will get punctuated with a mildly gory homicide scene, and the story concludes with plenty of bizarre revenge/supernatural hooey contained in the deserted mine that’s situated close to Victor’s residence. Though Crucible of Terror is executed roughly competently on technical ranges, the storytelling is a catastrophe and the performances are bland.” Each ’70s Film
” …the twist ending isn’t that good, and for the remainder of the film – nicely, let’s simply say that with the uninspired appearing, limp route, poor enhancing and leaden tempo you’ll encounter with this one, you’re higher off watching mud decide on the display screen of your TV set. Some oddball characters and Mike Raven’s sonorous voice attempt to enliven the proceedings, and it’s not close to sufficient.” Unbelievable Film Musings and Ramblings
“Raven won’t ever give Vincent Value a run for his cash within the horror ham sweepstakes, however he offers it his all in a movie that masses on loads of oddball twists and weird pink herrings together with sufficient mayhem to make this a good entry within the early ’70s British horror canon.” Mondo Digital
“Director Ted Hooker fills his image with hanging visuals and compelling characters, pacing the factor so nicely that even when the logic breaks down a bit it stays a resoundingly entertaining movie. And a key to that’s Raven himself, the person delivering a efficiency that continues to be simply on the nice aspect of camp as he spends the physique of the movie stalking and leering on the younger ladies whereas mistreating his spouse horribly.” Display screen Anarchy
“Mike Raven did his finest to ship a chill or two down the backbone, however there was little or no blood and the murders had been pretty tame. Provided that opening, one would count on there to be fairly a little bit of the pink all through the film and when that didn’t materialize, it was just a bit little bit of a disappointment, although by the tip of all of it, it did considerably redeem itself just a bit.” The Telltale Thoughts
“It’s actually form of a British grindhouse flick. Including to the temper is the brooding menace that Raven brings to the position of Victor, a malevolence that’s complemented fairly nicely by the grand-guignol hysterics of Alberge as his spouse […] Whereas the homicide sequences are executed with zest, there’s far an excessive amount of exposition total and never sufficient motion.” The Terror Lure
” …has some well-used location footage of Cornwall and a few good scenes to make up for the trite script, clearly low finances and whole miscasting of Mike Raven because the psychotic sculptor.” David Pirie, Time Out Movie Information
” …a twist so wildly out of left area (even making an allowance for the clues which are sprinkled in all through the movie) that it enters the rarefied realm of the So Unhealthy It’s Magnificent. That ending saves a fairly pedestrian train in sub-sub-sub-Hammer horror/thriller and makes it actually, unmissably demented.” Upcoming Discs
“Although it begins out with a sleazy bang, with Raven’s crazed artist plastering and smelting a unadorned Lai, Crucible of Terror is low on motion and violence even in its uncut type. There are just a few murders right here and there, together with a head crushed by a rock and a girl burned with acid, however nothing terribly graphic.” Wtf-Movies
“The horror is handled as one thing that occurs between the melodramatics of the Clare household squabbles and the place there’s a killing, it’s over in seconds, with violence and gore saved to a minimal. Parkinson was a self-confessed admirer of the Val Lewton college of fantasy and maybe the movie ought to be recommended for attempting to do one thing greater than ‘stalk and slash’.” John Hamilton, X-Cert 2
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MOVIES and MANIA score:
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Forged and characters:
Mike Raven … Victor Clare – I, Monster, Lust for a Vampire, Disciple of Loss of life
Mary Maude … Millie – Terror; The Home That Screamed
James Bolam … John ‘Jack’ Davies – Straight On Until Morning
Ronald Lacey … Michael Clare – Disciple of Loss of life
Betty Alberge … Dorothy Clare – Disciple of Loss of life
John Arnatt … Invoice aka Billie
Beth Morris … Jane Clare
Judy Matheson … Marcia – Twins of Evil; Lust for a Vampire
Melissa Stribling … Joanna Brent – Dracula (1958)
Kenneth Keeling … George Brent
Me Me Lai … Chi-San – The Man from Deep River, Final Cannibal World, Eaten Alive!
Filming places:
Blue Hills, St Agnes, Cornwall, England
Jericho Valley, St Agnes, Cornwall, England
Perranporth, Cornwall
Shepperton Studios, Surrey, England
Technical specs:
1 hour 31 minutes
Audio: Mono
Side ratio: 1.66: 1
Launch:
Within the UK, Crucible of Terror was launched on a double-bill by Scotia-Barber with Girl Frankenstein.
Alternate title:
Unholy Terror – US video title
Trailer [poor quality]:
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