The Oblong Box

Introduction

If not for his suicide, this would have been the second film made by Michael Reeves, a fantastic talent who was (and still is) renowned for the brilliant Witchfinder General. As he died during pre-production, Gordon Hessler took over directing duties on this adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's short story of the same name.

When his brother Edward is nailed up and cursed in a voodoo ritual somewhere in Africa, Julian Markham (Vincent Price) takes his disfigured and violent sibling home and locks him up. Unbeknownst to Julian, an attempt is made to free Edward by faking his death but Julian assumes he really is dead and makes all the arrangements for a viewing (by stealing a corpse) and then buries Edward alive.

When Edward is dug up and brought to the laboratory of local bodysnatcher and scientist Dr. Neuhart (Christopher Lee) who realises the man is very much alive when he tries to strangle the good (bad?) doctor. Taking up residence with Neuhart, Edward disguises himself in a red hood and embarks on a murderous spree against the villagers who wronged him, killing anyone who gets in his way.

Video

A surprisingly good picture for a film of this nature and date (1969) though the effects are, by today's standards, a little unconvincing. The film is stylishly shot, looking like something from the Hammer Studio, with bright colours and decent contrast.

Audio

The mix is a little off, with the dialogue a bit too quiet when compared to the score and other effects so you do have to crank up the volume - not necessarily a bad thing for a horror film!

Extra Features

Just a trailer.

Conclusion

The Oblong Box fits neatly into a subgenre of horror films like other Poe adaptations such as The Premature Burial, Masque of the Red Death and Cry of the Banshee. It has that period setting, an occult element and a fair amount of atmosphere that offsets the potential silliness of the whole thing.

This marked the first pairing of Vincent Price and Christopher Lee and both show why they became British horror institutions, with renowned scenery-chewer Price giving a fairly nuanced performance and Lee has commanding screen presence (even in a horrible grey wig). Sadly, the two only share one scene and the dialogue consists of a dying groan from Lee! Gordon Hessler seems to introduce new characters with regularity throughout the running time which does interfere with the coherency and tautness of the picture but, despite this, it is a fine way to spend 90 minutes and there is a cracker of an ending.

Though the press release doesn't say so, this appears to be the first time this has been available on DVD in the UK so its release is to be welcomed. The Oblong Box is a perfectly enjoyable film that will never gain classic status, but it may have a cult following that will be glad to replace their VHS copies.