Tags:
Film: Horrors of the Black Museum
Year: 1959
Director: Arthur Crabtree
Writer: Herman Cohen and Aben Kandel
Starring: Michael Gough, June Cunningham and Graham Curnow
Review:
This film begins with in an apartment where two women live. One of the women there receives a package. They both are really excited to see what it is and it turns out to be a pair of binoculars. The woman tries them out, but two spikes come out and stab her in the eyes, killing her.
The police at baffled because there is no evidence and nothing to go on. A man who writes crime novels comes in to gloat that they have no idea what they’re looking for; he is played by Michael Gough. We get that the police don’t like him much because he gets the public riled up from what he writes. We also learn there are similar binoculars in the police’s black museum of murder weapons.
Gough then goes to a thrift store where he buys weird odds and ends from the woman there. He accuses the woman of robbing the customers with outrageous prices. While there he buys a dagger. When he goes home, we see that he has his own black museum, one that is even more impressive than the one the police have. We also meet his assistant, who is played by Graham Curnow.
Curnow goes out on a date with his secret girlfriend, while Gough visits his mistress. She asks for more money and he tells her no. This sends her into a rage and she ends what they have. She goes out to have a night of fun, but when she returns home, Curnow is under a trace and his face looks funny. He kills her with a make shift guillotine. He flees with it afterwards.
Gough has an ability to control Curnow and creates murders to write about. Will the police be able to stop him? Will Curnow learn the truth before it is too late? Can anyone stop the madman?
This film is short and there isn’t a lot of stuff explained. Like we see Gough give Curnow an injection, but there is also electronic equipment, so it never is explained how he controls him or what not.
We also do not get a lot of character depth outside of Gough and then a little bit of Curnow. The film itself isn’t horrible for a 50s one, which for the most part are like this in that they are short, to the point and have pretty simple stories. There are some interesting deaths and that does make it more interesting. I would recommend this if you’re a fan of British horror, especially from this era. If not, it is a short horror film so it wouldn’t take too much time if you gave it a chance, but it isn’t the greatest by far.
My Rating: 6 out of 10