Review for Horrors of the Black Museum

‘Horror of the Black Museum’ is a winner on several counts. First up it’s a genuinely horrific film. Secondly, it’s one of the earliest British films to use Cinemascope – and it looks great as a result. Thirdly, despite being British it oozes cult drive-in trashy charm. 



It opens as it means to go on with a truly horrific murder. A young lady receives a parcel and she and her flat-mate can’t wait to see what it is. When she opens it up she finds it’s a pair of binoculars though it’s a mystery as to who could have sent it. When she puts them to her eyes it triggers two highly-sprung spikes into her eyes, blinding her initially but eventually, with blood pouring from her eyes, killing her too.


Following this grim opening sequence we see her flat-mate being interviewed by police but to little avail. Superintendent Graham (Geoffrey Keen) knows that this is the work of a killer who has already murdered twice before in gruesome ways.



As he discusses this with colleagues a popular newspaper columnist and author, super-criminologist Edmond Bancroft (Micahel Gough) makes an appearance, gloating at the lack of progress and pointing out that the crimes are similar to some of those in the infamous Scotland Yard ‘Black Museum’.


All the clues point to Bancroft early on though the viewer doesn't get this confirmed until later. The fact the killing is partly Bancroft’s doing is not the point here. We know this – but do the police? And if not, why not? It certainly doesn't feel like a case for Sherlock Holmes. Even his own Doctor remarks on how excitable he gets every time there’s another murder.


The murder continues with the next being that of Bancroft’s own sneering young lover who is ‘kept’ by Bancroft. Mocking him and his dreary old ways she goes out to party and when she returns home she is brutally guillotined in her own bed, screaming as she sees the killer and the blade just second before it beheads her. The killer then runs off with the head in a carry case in full view of all the other tenants. However, in a cynical reflection on how hard procedural policing must be, all the accounts and descriptions differ, frequently being exaggerated to the point of uselessness. 
It transpires that Bancroft has a partner in crime – a younger, stronger man who appears to be under Bancroft’s spell.


Gough plays Bancroft in a hammy, enjoyable style reminiscent of the reedy Dr. Zachary Smith in ‘Lost in Space’. The physical similarity is also there. 


The image quality here is good and clean though it lacks lustre and contrast, looking a little soft and the edges. Hopefully enough people will buy this to encourage the fine folk at Network to one of their unimaginably good Blu-Ray transfers.


It’s probably the best it’s going to look and all serious horror fans should have it in their collection.