Rish Outfield's reviews
Vincent Price played Julian Markham, who keeps his disfigured brother Edward locked in the attic of his mansion. But Edward is wont to creep out, don a red mask ("The man in the crimson hood!"), and kill the locals. Eventually the tale is told of how he got that way–-he has been horribly CHANGED facially by a voodoo curse. But we as an audience don't see his face, only others, and they hold off on showing it, longer and longer, and even though the movie was thirty years old, I was truly captivated by the secret: How deformed IS Edward? What does he look like??
I like this kind of movie. Though it was made by American International Pictures, it felt very British. Is it possible it WAS British? There was a bombastic score, possibly culled from every other gothic Poe adaptation. There was lots of throat-slitting. It featured lots of whores! And you know, pretty British whores are the best kind of whores. It includes the-more-than-classic line: "I wish to God I'd never set eyes on you, Trench. And I pray to God I never shall again." Not only is that a great line, but it's almost exactly what the girl I took to While You Were Sleeping said to me about halfway through our first date. But I digress.
Vincent Price is a classic Horror icon. I don't know if it's possible for me to dislike him in a film role. Christopher Lee also made an appearance as the town doctor, who dabbles in grave robbery. Based on a Poe story, it dealt, once again, with premature burial. It makes me wonder, if tyranist were a horror writer, would MOTHS play a major part in them?
As the story progressed, you almost feel sorry for Edward. They really manage to draw out the secret of his appearance–-for a full ninety minutes! Then, they finally showed it. And I was terribly disappointed. It was nothing, really, just some oatmeal on his face. It made me wish they hadn't shown it at all. But I sound like a hypocrite detesting Blair Witch Project for showing Jack Dookie and wishing another film had shown less. But there's got to be a middle ground between showing nothing and showing too much, especially if you know your monster isn't very monstrous. Perhaps one of the marks of a good filmmaker is knowing when to show the shark and when to shy away. Hmmm.
The story was great, but the execution was only marginally successful. It felt a little long, as if the story was stretched to fit a certain time frame. Of course, there's a major reversal at the end, but that wasn't entirely satisfying, either.
Best Scare: From time to time, there was some creepy voodoo stuff. There aren't a lot of movies about voodoo curses anymore (I guess Thinner was about a gypsy curse, but maybe voodoo isn't politically correct anymore).
Note: As an added bonus, I learned something. After watching this film, I found out what an oblong box is, a coffin. Horror films aren't just entertainment, folks, they can be educational too.

Total Skulls: 8

Sequel
Sequel setup
Rips off earlier film
Horror film showing on TV/in theater in movie
Future celebrity appears
Former celebrity appears
Bad title
Bad premise
Bad acting
Bad dialogue
Bad execution
MTV Editing
OTS
Girl unnecessarily gets naked
Wanton sex
Death associated with sex
Unfulfilled promise of nudity
Characters forget about threat
Secluded location
Power is cut
Phone lines are cut
Someone investigates a strange noise
Someone runs up stairs instead of going out front door
Camera is the killer
Victims cower in front of a window/door
Victim locks self in with killer
Victim running from killer inexplicably falls
Toilet stall scene
Shower/bath scene
Car stalls or won't start
Cat jumps out
Fake scare
Laughable scare
Stupid discovery of corpse
Dream sequence
Hallucination/Vision
No one believes only witness
Crazy, drunk, old man knows the truth
Warning goes unheeded
Music detracts from scene
Death in first five minutes
x years before/later
Flashback sequence
Dark and stormy night
Killer doesn't stay dead
Killer wears a mask
Killer is in closet
Killer is in car with victim
Villain is more sympathetic than heroes
Unscary villain/monster
Beheading
Blood fountain
Blood hits camera
Poor death effect
Excessive gore
No one dies at all
Virgin survives
Geek/Nerd survives
Little kid lamely survives
Dog/Pet miraculously survives
Unresolved subplots
"It was all a dream" ending
Unbelievably happy ending
Unbelievably crappy ending
What the hell?