The Black Torment — The Black Torment( Blu Ray)
From the early 60s, The Black Torment is a moody/well-made blend of period mystery and low-key gothic horror. It focuses on a lord returning to his family's mansion with his new wife, finding it's seemingly haunted by the spectre of his first wife and his own doppelganger. The film is a mix of are-they-going-crazy-or-not thriller tropes and ghost-fed gothic vibes. Sure, it takes a little while to warm up, but once it does, you are well & truly hooked & effectively creeped out. Here, from 88 Films, either as a Blu-ray or DVD, is a recent release of this lesser-seen British film from producer Tony Tenser (Witchfinder General, The Blood on Satan's Claw). It features a new HD scan, two commentary tracks, and a few other things.
The Black Torment is from the year 1964-been filmed between Fordyke Hall near Basingstoke, Hampshire, and Shepperton Studios. It was directed by Ramsgate-born Robert Hartford-Davis- he had thirteen feature-length films to his name. These went from nihilistic, grimy and cheap house invasion thriller Crosstrap (1962), sleazy/ violent mad doctor horror/ thriller Corruption (1968), WIP meets psychological thriller/ soapy romance School For Unclaimed Girls (1969), and black panther-like gang film Black Gunn(1972).
The film opens with rather tonally misleading pre-credits, as we see a woman panicking and running through nighttime woods, pushing you straight into tension. Then the credits run, and we get grand/ ornate music playing, as a house and carriage ride through the English countryside- inside are our two leads, newlyweds- goatee & sideburned Sir Richard Fordyke(John Turner), and his wife Lady Elizbeth (Heather Sears). And for the first twenty or so minutes, the film very much sits in a period drama setting, as the pair return to Richard's ancestral home.
The pair are primally visiting the house to introduce Elizabeth to Richard’s father, who is wheelchair/ can’t talk after a stroke. A few people in the nearby village, and his staff, are off-hand with Richard- and we find out that seemingly he’s been seen around the village/ woodland, when he was supposedly in London with his wife, and then he starts getting nighttime glances of his first wife- though she took her own life some years earlier.
The initial period drama part of the film is well acted/ authentic-looking, and when it switches tone into mystery/ light horror, we find a sense of growing unease, unfolding mystery, as a few people get killed. And Richard starts going to pieces, as he sees the spirit of his first wife more & more, as well as people claiming they have seen him about and about- when he was clearly somewhere else.
I do have to admit, at the start of the film, I was wondering what I was getting myself into, as I’m not the biggest fan of the straight period drama form. But I’m so glad I stuck with it, as it opens up to be an excellent/ wholly entertaining blend of mystery, gothic horror, and low-key thriller.
The Blu-ray features an HD scan, which is largely full of clarity and depth, though maybe a little less defined and clear in some of the nighttime scenes.
On the new extras side, we get a few things- first off, there is two commentary tracks, one is with genre writer/expert Troy Howarth, and the second is with authors Kim Newman and Stephen Jones. I played the first of these- and as we’ve come to expect from Mr Howarth, this is another wonderful, researched and observed track, which could easily be played several times. He starts by commenting on the mysterious & rather misleading pre-credits, discussing the career of Edina Ronay, who plays the stalked woman. He talks about how the tone of the film is rather Hammer horror-like, though he also compares it to Italian Gothic films of the time, classifying it as a Gothic film with horror elements. We find out that the project started off with the title of The Torment- he details how it started filming on the 10th of February 1964, going on to be released in UK cinemas in October of that year, though it didn’t get a stateside release until the next year. He points out that the art design is very blue in its colours/ tones. He points out & discusses actors as they appear, saying male lead Turner has a good swagger/ and is a man's man, and we find out this was lead actress Sears' last film role, as she went on to just TV roles after this. Later on, he discusses the career of director Robert Hartford-Davis, talking about how his career moved from horror to blaxploitation, and we find out he passed at the young age of fifty-three in 1977. He talks about the career of the films scriptwriter Derek Ford, and much more.
Otherwise, on the new extras front, we get a couple of interviews. One with both Annette Whiteley( who played a maid in the film) and Roger Croucher( who played an apprentice in the film)- this for just over thirty-one minutes. And one with second assistant editor Peter Dansie- which runs just shy of the eight-minute mark
In finishing, if you enjoy the moodier/ slowly building side of gothic horror, then The Black Torment is well worth a look. This 88 Films release takes in an HD print, and a decent selection of new extras.