Horrors of the Black Museum — Horrors of the Black Museum(Blu Ray)
From the late 1950s Horrors of the Black Museum is a British police mystery come horror film- regarding a spate of rather bizarre murders. It’s a decidedly camp, at times grotesque ride- pushing the level of blood & violence for a film from the 50’s. Here from Studiocanal's Cult classic series is a new Blu-Ray release- with a new commentary track, interview, and lobby card gallery.
Horrors of the Black Museum was released in 1959. It was directed by Shipley, Yorkshire-born Arthur Crabtree, and is largely filmed in and around London. He had fourteen features to his name- these went from film noir Dear Murderer (1947), Sci-fi horror The Feind Without a Face (1958), and crime drama Death Over My Shoulder (1958). The film to hand is well enough scoped- though at times it does get dragged down a little by both its pacing & very contrived/ cliched 50’s Britishness.
The film opens in central London- as we follow a Post Office van making its way through the traffic to a flat, where two women accept the package. One of them unwraps it finding inside a pair of binoculars- she excitedly rushes over to the widow- pressing them against her eyes, screaming & collapsing on the floor- bright red blood coming from between her hands.
We next shift to an office where brill-creamed & recedingly haired policemen Supt. Graham (Geoffrey Keen) and Inspector Lodge (John Warwick) give us a plot dump. This is apparently the third murder of women in the city. And it turns out that the binoculars had spikes in it which went through her eyes and pierced the woman’s brain. Into the room bursts the greyed around the edges Edmond Bancroft (Michael Gough)- who is a crime reporter/ writer- whom the two Policeman seem more than a little fed up with…and we get a brief mention of Scotland Yard’s Black Museum.
Fairly soon we go back to Bancroft’s rather impressive house- this has a basement, and inside is his own personal Black Museum- with bloody wax works, reproductions of murder weapons, and a wall of grey metal ‘n’ flashing lights which is meant to be a computer. Helping him with his work is the rather timid twenty-something Rick (Graham Curnow).
As the film unfolds, we get more murders- the most impressive & elaborate of these is a guillotine set up above a bed, which is then let fall as the blond woman gets into bed. There’s also a body in an acid tub melting, ice prongs in the neck, a one or two stabbings. Most of these feature very bright red blood- and you could say they were a precursor to Herschell Gordon Lewis gore via the Grand-Guignol, though, of course, it’s less extreme & fleeting in its appearance.
Acting wise Gough is good as the pompous, smug, and always interfering with the police writer. Curnow does well enough as manipulated & spoken down to the assistant. Both Warwick & Keen are rather cliched British 1950s coppers- with little or no depth. June Cunningham is effective enough as belligerent and not going to be pushed around Joan- after stepping out of her initial Marlin Monroe clone persona.
Horrors of the Black Museum is entertaining enough for what it is- a 50’s exploration film, which feels very much like a Brit take on the type of thing Willaim Castle was doing around this time. With the gore/ violence has been very impressive/ intense for its time.
Moving onto this Region B Blu-Ray, and we get a wonderful bold & bright scan of the film- which is vibrant in its colour, in particular of course the bright blood reds. On the extras side, we get two new things- firstly we have a commentary track from Kim Newman and writer/editor Steve Jones. They begin by talking about how the film is one of the astonishing horror films of the 50’s- due to its mean-spiritedness, it’s violence and air of sleaze. They talk about the use of Cinescope- which before this was only really used for epic films, not exploitation fare like this. They dispel the myth about the film, that it was cut drastically & there is an uncut version somewhere- this was the one & only cut of the film, both used in the UK & US. We find out the film was shown as a double feature with The Headless Ghost. They talk about how the film was four years before Blood Feast, and while it doesn’t have the level of gore of said film- it has a similar nasty tone. We get a discussion about the different shades of red in the film. They chat about lead Gough, and his work before this film. We find out at one point Vincent Price was up for role the of Bancroft, but finally turned down- as the producer wanted an English actor for a London set film. They talk about how the Bancroft was very probably based on Edgar Lustgarten- a British broadcaster and noted crime writer, who appeared on British TV in the 50’s. They touch on actress June Cunningham- declaring she is terrible in the film, which I think is a tad unfair. They discuss the Hypno-Vista introduction that appears in the US version of the film. Later on, they discuss the provocative stills from the film- that never appeared in the finished article. They ponder quite what the point/ reason is for the computer in the basement. Comment on bit part actors, and much more. Again, another informative/ entertaining track from these pros. Next, we get a stand-alone filmed interview with Kim Newman (21.47) which sees him give an in-depth look at the film, and again it’s most worthy.
On the archive side, we get Hypno-Vista Introduction (11.20), Original Trailer, and B&W Lobby Cards Gallery. With the finished release will be presented with four collectors art cards- taking in stills from the film.
There is no doubt that Horrors of the Black Museum is one of the nastier & mean-spirited films of the 1950s- with the levels of gore & implication really unrivalled for the time. So, it’s wonderful to see it getting this new Region B release from Studiocanal's Cult classic series- with its bright & bold print and a good selection of extras.