Friday 18 August 2017

260 The Shuttered Room ( 1967 )

This  is  an  H P  Lovecraft  adaptation  set  in  the  US  but  filmed  in  Norfolk. It  seems  like  the  bastard  child  of  The  Ghoul  and  Straw  Dogs  although  it pre-dates  both  of  them. If  you  can  tolerate  Oliver  Reed's  posing  and  terrible  accent  it's  pretty  good.

Mike  Kelton  ( Gig  Young)  a   magazine  editor  ( and  seemingly  a  martial  arts  expert  on  the  sly )  brings  his  young  wife  Suzanna  back  to  the  island  home  she  was sent  away  from  as  an  infant  following  a  scary  nocturnal  visitation. They  intend  to  make  the  house  a  summer  home  but  everyone  from  her  Aunt  Agatha  ( Flora  Robson )  downwards  tells  them  to  go  home  apart  from  cousin  Ethan  ( Reed )  who  has  his  own  reasons  for  wanting  her  to  stay.

Carol  Lynley  ( as  Suzanna  Whateley )

Sex : Ethan  twice  gets  close  to  raping  her

Death :  Survives  


Carol  was  a  former  child  model  who  progressed  to  Playboy  in  1965. She  had  an  intermittent  affair  with  David  Frost. She  divided  her  time  fairly  equally  between  film , stage  and  TV  but  hasn't  been  active  in  the  last  decade. She  is  now  75.

Judith  Arthy  ( as  Emma )

Sex : Emma  is  fooling  around  with  Ethan

Death : Clawed  to  death  by  who's  in  the room  while  trying  on  Suzanna's  stockings


 Judith  was  an  Australian  actress  who  worked  in  Britain  for  a  decade  between  1965  and  1975. The  buxom  blonde then  returned  to  Australia  but  retired  from  acting  around  1978  to  become  a  teacher  and  later   a  writer. She  made  a  return  to  stage  acting  in  2002. She  is  now  76.

Ann  Bell  ( as  Mrs  Whateley )

Sex : No

Death : Struck  by  lightning  ( offscreen )


Ann  has  another  very  minor  part  in  this  one.


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