Review of Crucible of Terror (1972) by Ed Fucking H — 22 Sep 2009

A forgotten British horror film from the early 1970's, the sort you would see on a Grindhouse double-bill. It's a cheap as chips affair, (Hammer-lite is the best way to decribe it), but it's well made and quite intriguing too, plus it has the debut of a Radio 1 presenter who embarked on an all too brief acting career.

Set in a remote house on the Cornwall coast, it has sculptor Victor Clare (Mike Raven) having a few people over to discuss the sale of some of his works. They include Jack Davies (James Bolam), Victor's son Michael (Ronald Lacey) and his wife Jane (Beth Morris).

While they're staying at the house, people start vanishing suddenly, Michael is a bit of a drunk, and has a row with his wife, then she vanishes one night in the car, and then Michael goes missing too.

They start to suspect Victor, who is a reclusive eccentric, who uses a nearby tin-mine to create his sculptures. It's very silly towards the end, but for a low budget film, it's quite effective, the ending lets the side down though, but it does have a good cast in the film.