"Crucible of Horror," or "The Corpse," as it was originally known, follows a mother and daughter who hatch a plan to dispose of their sadistic, sexist husband/father, who deals them both physical and sexual abuse while preening his son. Their plot, however, does not go as planned.
This little-seen Gothic horror flick is as British as all get-out, complete with a gloomy manor, foggy landscapes, and dreary, oppressive interior photography. It feels very much like many of the psychological England-set horrors of the period, which may or may not be a good thing depending on the audience. It has some similarities to the works of Jimmy Sangster ("Fear in the Night" has a similar vibe), though it's remarkably less thrilling than anything in Sangster's catalogue.
The crux of the plot is a blatant riff on the French classic "Les diaboliques," to the point that the screenplay borderline plagiarizes. Michael Gough turns in an appropriately cold performance as the sadist father, while Yvonne Mitchell and Sharon Gurney are sympathetic as his tortured female family members. The film burns slowly toward a conclusion that is ambiguous and frankly silly, but it is more or less in accordance with the rest of the dreary proceedings. All in all, a minorly entertaining psychological thriller with a few eerie moments, but it doesn't really have any tricks up its sleeve, so to speak. 6/10.
This little-seen Gothic horror flick is as British as all get-out, complete with a gloomy manor, foggy landscapes, and dreary, oppressive interior photography. It feels very much like many of the psychological England-set horrors of the period, which may or may not be a good thing depending on the audience. It has some similarities to the works of Jimmy Sangster ("Fear in the Night" has a similar vibe), though it's remarkably less thrilling than anything in Sangster's catalogue.
The crux of the plot is a blatant riff on the French classic "Les diaboliques," to the point that the screenplay borderline plagiarizes. Michael Gough turns in an appropriately cold performance as the sadist father, while Yvonne Mitchell and Sharon Gurney are sympathetic as his tortured female family members. The film burns slowly toward a conclusion that is ambiguous and frankly silly, but it is more or less in accordance with the rest of the dreary proceedings. All in all, a minorly entertaining psychological thriller with a few eerie moments, but it doesn't really have any tricks up its sleeve, so to speak. 6/10.