The Shuttered Room
![]() | This article is missing information about the film's production and reception.(April 2016) |
The Shuttered Room | |
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![]() Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | David Greene |
Written by | D. B. Ledrov Nathaniel Tanchuck |
Produced by | Philip Hazelton (as Phillip Hazleton) |
Starring | Gig Young Carol Lynley |
Cinematography | Kenneth Hodges |
Edited by | Brian Smedley-Aston |
Music by | Basil Kirchin |
Production company | Troy-Schenck Productions |
Distributed by | Warner Bros.-Seven Arts (Worldwide) |
Release date |
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Running time | 99-100 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
The Shuttered Room (a.k.a. Blood Island) is a 1967 British horror film directed by David Greene and starring Gig Young and Carol Lynley as a couple who move into a house with dark secrets. It is based on a short story of the same name by August Derleth, published as a so-called "posthumous collaboration" with H. P. Lovecraft. The film has also been re-released under the title Blood Island.[1][2]
Although set in the U.S., the film was shot in Kent and Norfolk, England.[3] The film features a large half-brick, half-timber watermill, which is destroyed by fire in the closing scenes. The building used was Hardingham Mill on the River Yare in Norfolk.[4][5]
Plot[]
Susannah Kelton, a newly married woman who was raised in foster care in the city, learns that her real parents have died and left their property to her. She and her husband Mike travel to the island of Dunwich off the coast of Massachusetts to inspect the property. They find a local culture that is clannish, backward and ignorant. The few friends whom they make among the locals, including Susannah's aunt Agatha, warn them that the family mill is cursed and urge the Keltons to leave immediately and never look back.
Refusing to bow to superstition, the couple consider rebuilding the abandoned mill. They become the target of a gang of local thugs led by Susannah's lecherous cousin, Ethan. Their reign of terror is ended by something still living in the shuttered attic room of the mill, something that caused Susannah to have nightmares as a child.
Cast[]
- Gig Young as Mike Kelton
- Carol Lynley as Susannah Whately Kelton / Sarah
- Oliver Reed as Ethan
- Flora Robson as Aunt Agatha
- Judith Arthy as Emma
- as Luther Whately
- Ann Bell as Mary Whately
- William Devlin as Zebulon Whately
- Charles Lloyd-Pack as Barge Master
- Bernard Kay as Tait
- Donald Sutherland as Zebulon (voice)
- as Aunt Sarah
- Robert Cawdron as Luther Whately
- as gang member
- as gang member
- as gang member
- as Susannah as a child
Production[]
The script was originally written by Alexander Jacobs and Nathaniel Tanchuck. Filming began in April 1966.[6] Sam Peckinpah's Straw Dogs (1971) would have many similarities.[citation needed]
References[]
- ^ Mitchell, Charles P. (2001). The Complete H.P. Lovecraft Filmography. Westport: Greenwood Press. p. 185. ISBN 9780313316418.
- ^ Smith, Don G. (2006). H.P. Lovecraft in Popular Culture: The Works and Their Adaptations in Film, Television, Comics, Music and Games. Jefferson: McFarland & Co. p. 51. ISBN 9780786420919.
- ^ Vallance, Tom (11 April 2003). "David Greene". The Independent. London. p. 20.
- ^ "Take a walk on location in the steps of the stars". Eastern Daily Press. Norwich. 7 June 2012.
- ^ http://www.reelstreets.com/index.php/component/films/?task=view&id=1817&film_ref=shuttered_roon,_the
- ^ Martin, Betty. (14 March 1966). "Schaffner to Direct 'Spy'". Los Angeles Times. p. c19.
External links[]
- 1967 films
- 1968 films
- English-language films
- 1967 horror films
- British horror films
- British films
- Films based on short fiction
- Films based on works by H. P. Lovecraft
- Films directed by David Greene
- Films scored by Basil Kirchin
- Films set in Massachusetts
- Films set on islands
- Films shot in England
- Warner Bros. films
- 1967 directorial debut films