Bryant Haliday is a world-weary professional hunter who kills a lion partially wounded by a member of his party. The rest of the film follows the effects of the curse put on him by the local tribe who worship lions. There is no voodoo as such and they should have kept to the original titles, The Lion Men, or Curse of Simba, but no doubt Mr Gordon reasoned these weren't strong enough for exploitation purposes. The tribesmen, presented as savages, do respect the lions which is more than the idiots today who pay huge sums of money to hunt these magnificent animals down. Somehow big-game hunting of the past doesn't seem so bad though.
The film moves at a leisurely pace when back in England and the attempts to emulate Lewton don't really come off. The original version under review runs for 82 minutes and it's understandable that some of the later footage of Haliday's inner torment was cut. Dennis Price is good but has to little to do and Beryl Cunningham's exotic dancing is certainly captivating. Brian Fahey provides a driving score even if it's used inappropriately in places.
The film moves at a leisurely pace when back in England and the attempts to emulate Lewton don't really come off. The original version under review runs for 82 minutes and it's understandable that some of the later footage of Haliday's inner torment was cut. Dennis Price is good but has to little to do and Beryl Cunningham's exotic dancing is certainly captivating. Brian Fahey provides a driving score even if it's used inappropriately in places.