begob A father subjects his daughter and son to a quack's experiments in order to cure them of their bad blood ...Gothic clash between primitive science and primitive religion, as an inherited malevolence racks up the body count of the local village girls. The story provides suspense over the identity of the villain, but oddly the hero plays a minor role so there's a real nihilism that doesn't fit with the Hammer formula.The story telling isn't great. We're given the usual lavish costumes and sets and earthy locations, but the set up isn't tense, since the locals seem content with the aristos up the hill despite what must be dodgy past relations. There's one interesting scene with the villagers in a ritual to kill death, but it didn't tie in with any theme in the main story.Editing sometimes odd: one glimpse introducing a victim as she waves bye bye to dad, then a pursuit through the woods. The only impressive photography is when the aunt steps into frame in front of the Count and the quack.Biggest drawback is the acting, which has to deal with a very wordy script. The old fellas ham it up, with wobbling jowels and arms flung wide, while the daughter drifts about in a state of feeble anxiety. The nude scenes are nice, and the killings are more or less gory.Music nothing special.Overall: Interesting, yet confused and uneven.

Theo Robertson One wonders what the thinking behind this Hammer production was ? Something about dark family secrets involving insanity and incest and murder and the occasional religious maniac thrown in for bad measure . The narrative as it appears on screen is very confused and confusing and the production team don't seem to have put much thought in to developing things to any large degree . As it stands there seems to be a bizarre contest going on between Robert Hardy , Patrick Magee and Michael Hordern as to who can give most ludicrous and hammy performance in thespian history - all in one 90 minute film . It's kind of like one of those competitions you'd get between Hitler , Stalin and Mao as to who could kill as many people as possible in the shortest period of time . Make no mistake that Hardy , Magee and Hordern capture , mutilate and execute every single syllable in every single line to its fullest potential possible while pulling an emotive face . When you've got three well respected actors showing off in their distinctive velvety tones what hope for the rest of the performances ? Slim hope and no hope and slim died long before filming started . The rest of the cast are very wooden in comparison especially Gillian Hills as Elizabeth who looks as thought she's wandered on to set after smoking a spliff the size of a telegraph pole . This isn't a highly regarded Hammer Horror and it's not difficult to see why

lost-in-limbo In the 19th Century, a depraved Baron Zorn keeps his two adult children locked up and drugged in his castle, as he fears that they have inherited the curse of his wife's unstable mental illness. His daughter Elizabeth manages to escape, and encounters a young man Carl and spends a short time before she's recaptured. Heading to the castle is doctor Falkenberg to hopefully cure the kids, but Carl who tags along wants to free Elizabeth. Meanwhile hysteria is slowly building in the local village, as there's a sexual predator killing their young woman. They think its demons, but a drifter Priest sees it as his job to rid the area of evil and he points them to Zorn.Eccentrically ham-fisted and downbeat, but lush looking and skilfully illustrated Hammer Gothic horror period piece that might not have the class of some other Hammer entries, but it sure was entertaining. The negative press might have its reasons, but I didn't find it a complete waste. The psychological story is absurd, glassy and lurid in every aspect, with gratuitous blood letting and excessively pointless nudity equalling extreme blood-lust. However a solid, well-serving cast (featuring Patrick Magee, Paul Jones, Yvonne Mitchell, Gillian Hills and a perfectly impulsive Robert Hardy) and Peter Sykes' pastel, well-etched direction (with inspired strokes and suspenseful fits) counter-pouches its weak, plodding and downright exploitative script of stock arrangement. Striking a big tick to their names were Harry Robinson's sweeping music score of harrowing scope, and Arthur Grant's fluid cinematography of scenic panache. On paper this one got better treatment, than what it really deserved. Fun and trashy Hammer mayhem.

Woodyanders Wicked, decadent Baron Zorn (a robust, rip-snorting portrayal by Robert Hardy) keeps both his frail daughter Elisabeth (touchingly played by the delicately comely Gillian Hills) and tormented son Emil (Shane Briant in his excellent film debut) locked up inside his dismal castle because of a hereditary family curse of insanity. Meanwhile a bunch of gorgeous peasant girls in a nearby village are being brutally murdered by a mystery maniac. Pretty soon the frightened townspeople succumb to mass hysteria. Director Peter Sykes, working from a quirky, intricate, literate and compellingly subversive script by Christopher Wicking (who also wrote "The Oblong Box" and "Scream and Scream Again"), expertly crafts a spooky, artsy and intriguing psychological portrait of madness and despair, relating the story at a slow, stately rate and deftly creating a potently gloomy and melancholy atmosphere. Popping up in enjoyably colorful supporting roles are Patrick Magee as a cynical, unhelpful charlatan psychiatrist, Yvonne Mitchell as a loyal housekeeper, Manfred Mann lead singer Paul Jones as Elisabeth's ardent suitor, and Michael Hordern as a deranged, doddery priest. Arthur Grant's exquisitely lush'n'lovely pastoral cinematography, the brooding 19th century setting, Harry Robinson's eerie, elegant score, and a dark narrative which boldly explores such disturbing themes as incest, repression and the sins of the fathers further enhances the overall fine quality of this flavorsome Gothic horror outing.