The Oblong Box

BFI Film has made it a tradition to release a couple of newly restored horror films in time for Halloween and this year, one of those films is THE OBLONG BOX from 1969, directed by Gordon Hessler. Vincent Price is the only American star in this quintessentially British production, which is supposed to be an adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's story 'The Oblong Box' (but actually has little to do with the original source) and also draws inspiration from another Poe story, namely 'The Premature Burial'.

Like 'WITCHFINDER GENERAL (1968), which was touted in the US as Edgar Allan Poe's 'The Conqueror Worm' (with Price narrating the poem), ‘The Oblong Box’ has in fact nothing to do with Poe's short story, save for a coffin in the shape of an oblong box.

Written by sometime director Laurence Huntington (who gave us the 1946 Eric Portman classic WANTED FOR MURDER) and reworked somewhat by Christopher Wicking - who scripted SCREAM AND SCREAM AGAIN just a few months later - the action kicks off in Africa where a white man is dragged out of a native camp to be practically crucified (nails banged into his hands) and hexed by a native chieftain for a crime he never committed. The ‘hex' is that he becomes horribly disfigured. This is Sir Edward Markham (Alister Williamson) and he and his brother Julian (Vincent Price) are plantation owners as well as being landed gentry back in dear Old Blighty. No sooner does a startled Julian chance upon this horrifying scene than we are transplanted back to the family mansion in England where we discover the horribly disfigured Sir Edward is being kept more or less a prisoner by Julian in the upstairs room… for obvious reasons! The near insane Sir Edward plans to escape with the assistance of crooked family solicitor Samuel Trench (Peter Arne). This feat is achieved when Trench enlists the help of African witch doctor N,Galo (Harry Baird), a man capable of bringing the dead back to life as we later discover. There is no end to Trench's dirty dealing. After Sir Edward takes a drug - blown by N,Galo through his bedroom window - he will appear to be dead. Yes, appear to be. However, he ends up buried alive. Julian is only too aware of Trench's treachery and forces him to supply a body to replace Sir Edward's as it is the Markham's custom to have the village dignitaries look upon them in death. You'd think some of these people might recollect what Sir Edward had looked like before.

Realising that he has little choice and needs to deliver the goods so to speak, Trench has little qualms about getting N,Galo to kill Tom Hacket (Maxwell Shaw) – landlord of the den of iniquity where N,Galo happens to be staying - to replace Sir Edward as a healthy looking corpse. Hacket is later dumped in a nearby river which causes a little difficulty. Of course, Trench does not tell Julian anything like the truth...at least not initially. As it so happens, Sir Edward's body is soon dug up by a couple of ruthless and murderous body snatchers and handed over to Dr. Neuhartt (Christopher Lee), a latter-day Dr. Knox. No sooner does Neuhartt pry open the coffin lid than Sir Edward springs back to life, blackmailing the shady doctor into helping him. Neuhartt is forced to give the man shelter and supplies him with a red velvet mask to help disguise his disfigurement. Within no time Sir Edward - still quite mad in many respects - is off on a trail of revenge against all who betrayed him and this bloody trail can only lead back to his now happily married brother who carries a very guilty secret indeed…

It’s all nicely photographed by John Coquillion (who was also the cinematographer on WITCHFINDER GENERAL among other films). THE OBLONG BOX further features Hilary Dwyer (now playing Price's fiancé Elizabeth as opposed to his victim in Witchfinder). Sally Geeson has a comparatively smallish part as maid Sally, at the same time it’s an important part nonetheless, as Sally unwittingly becomes Sir Edward’s love interest – with dire consequences for him.

In the original script one reads that Price was supposed to be playing both brothers - this may well have been somewhat more interesting as Sir Edward is really the lead part. Here we have burly Australian character actor Alister Williamson dubbed entirely by Robert Rietty and wearing a red velvet mask practically throughout. When it finally comes off...well, it is hardly as shocking as we may have thought (the Phantom of The Opera he ain't). Christopher Lee doesn't really have much to do for his first meeting with Price, the two leading horror movie actors have one very brief scene together. We have plenty going on here though: Voodoo rituals, a masked villain, resurrectionists, plus a cracking version of Monti's ‘Czardas’ played in a brothel of all places. Director Hessler later directed Price in SCREAM AND SCREAM AGAIN and the exceptionally nasty CRY OF THE BANSHEE.

The Bonus Material of this Blu-ray release is particularly interesting and includes three short films inspired by the works of Poe: ‘The Bells’ (1913), ‘Prelude’ (1927) and ‘The Pit’ (1962). Then there’s an audio commentary, theatrical trailer, image gallery plus interviews with director Roger Corman (who discusses his various Poe adaptations) and with Vincent Prices’ daughter Victoria (‘The Immortal Mr. Price’). An illustrated booklet (first pressing only) is the icing on the cake.