Crucible of Horror

Starring:Crucible of Horror
Studio: Trinity Home Ent
Product Type: DVD

Customer Reviews:

ENJOYABLE MURDERS.......2007-05-10

I LIKE MOVIES LIKE THIS.THIS WAS INTERESTING,AND SUSPENSEFUL.IT WASN'T SCARY.IT WAS DIFFERENT-BUT ENJOYABLE TO WATCH.NOT GORY-BUT THERE WERE DEATHS.

Why did I buy this?.......2007-03-08

No, I'm serious - I can't remember. I'm interested in certain kinds of horror films (Universal through to Hammer), but they either have to have some good qualities, or be so thoroughly bad that they become collectable for their brazen cheek or tongue-in-cheek self awareness. This film has neither, it's just a somewhat boring not very good British genre horror pic. The plot makes no sense, much of the acting is just plain amateurish (but not bad enough to be enjoyable) and the whole thing seems completely pointless. The DVD transfer seems fine, but - why bother? [2 stars, because it's not good enough to get 1 star!]

Curious oddity grows with repeated viewing -- get the DVD.......2005-07-21

Victor Clare (former BBC DJ, Mike Raven) is an artist. He "worships" beauty. He wants to "preserve" and "possess" beauty. That's why he never sells his work. It's not his job, it's his devotion. Fortunately, his workload is manageable because his taste in beauty is narrow. No trees or sunsets or daffodils. No landscapes, or still lives, or abstracts. He only paints women. Young women. Young nekkid women. And nothing but.

Hey, he's an artist.

Actually, Victor doesn't just paint. He also sculpts. If you've seen House of Wax (1953), you've got a rough idea of his technique. It's one reason the film is called Crucible of Terror. A crucible is "a vessel used for melting or calcining materials at high temperatures." It's also "the bottom of an ore furnace in which the molten metal collects." Victor owns one of each.

A crucible is also "a severe test or trial." People trapped in a tense, suffocating social setting are said to be in a crucible. That pretty much describes Victor's dinner parties. Millie (Mary Maude) endured one of those. In fact, she suffered through an entire weekend with Victor and family. One can't blame her if she ends up dumping Jack (James Bolam).

Here's how it all began ...

Jack, the owner of a London art gallery, is in a financial pickle. He could escape debt if only he had more works by that mysterious reclusive artist, whose bronze sculpture of a nekkid woman sold for a good price. But Victor (who else?) refuses to sell his works. Luckily for Jack, Victor's no-good drunken son, Michael (Ronald Lacey), has been stealing dad's works, to sell to Jack. But Michael can't sell too many, lest Victor notice.

Michael agrees to arrange a meeting between Jack and Victor at the family cottage, out in the country. Fresh air, craggy headland seashore, abandoned tin mine said to be haunted... Anyway, they all drive up for the weekend: Jack and Millie (his fiancée), Michael and wife Joanna (Melissa Stribling).

At the cottage they meet Victor, his wife Dorothy (Betty Alberge), his artist's model (i.e., lover) Marcia (Judy Matheson), and Bill (John Arnatt), the milquetoast "family friend." Bill's a cardigan-wearing wimp (despite his extensive samurai sword collection) who's been pining after Dorothy for thirty years. He doesn't even mind that Dorothy's richest conversations are with her dolls and stuffed animals, whom she feeds at the dinner table.

Crucible of Terror is a dark, and darkly humorous, domestic drama. Victor is a bullying sexual predator. During dinner he squeezes between Joanna and Millie, flirting with both women before their menfolk, neither of whom protest (Michael is intimidated by his dad; Jack doesn't want to ruin the deal). Victor exults in having "two beautiful women under one roof," pointedly ignoring that Marcia and Dorothy are also present. The bisexual Marcia smirks, having seen Victor's other lovers come and go. Dorothy feeds her stuffed dog. Upon seeing which, Victor explodes that he's told her not to bring "that thing" to the dinner table. Tearstruck, Dorothy frets that Victor's hurt her plush toy's feelings.

Fun party. And to think, had it not been for Jack, Millie might have spent yet another boring weekend shopping in London!

Amid all this domestic discomfort, an unseen killer is racking up a body count. However, this being a horror film, everyone is blissfully ignorant of it, simply assuming that so-and-so left after "having a row" last night.

Some horror fans complain that Crucible of Terror contains "little horror," but the body count is generous. Just not very gory. And there's much "domestic horror" and cruel humor. That can compensate for tepid gore, no?

After Joanna disappears, Victor focuses his, ehr, artistic attentions on Millie. Victor induces Jack to return to London (sans Millie) by agreeing to sell some paintings to him, provided he raises 2,000 pounds, in cash, today (Sunday). Leaving, Jack suggests to Millie (only half-jokingly) that she "be nice" to Victor, so as to help seal the deal.

So... Millie tries to enjoy an evening with the Clares, reading in their living room while Victor shouts at Dorothy, calling her "old and ugly" and expressing revulsion that he ever desired her. Millie responds by hunching closer to her magazine. We feel her relief when Bill announces that Jack is on the phone. But when Millie begs Jack to hurry back because Victor is "pestering" her, Jack retorts that she is not to "screw up this deal."

Initially, I didn't much like or understand Crucible of Terror, but my appreciation grows with each viewing. Sunny outdoor scenes dominate the early scenes. People wandering along cliffs and beaches. But a palpable claustrophobia increasingly stifles us as the story progresses. The latter scenes occur at night or underground in the mine, paralleling the increasingly unpleasant domestic situation and Victor's intensifying flirtations toward Millie. Interspersed are those periods of relief, such as the false rescue of Jack's phone call. Or when Jack is in London and we feel we've "escaped" with him (yet feel guilty about leaving Millie behind with Victor).

Crucible of Terror is often odd or confusing. At the beach, Michael taunts Marcia over her failed lesbian overtures toward Millie. So Marcia "playfully" pelts stones at Michael, still stoning him even after he's screaming and injured. (Even drunk, why doesn't he think to stone her back?) And what's with Dorothy's stuffed animals?

Rough editing adds to our confusion. Millie exits the mine though a door in Victor's house, then goes upstairs. Then she enters the furnace in the mine. The film is full of such edits, whole scenes apparently missing. Because they are, at least on the VHS version.

I've three VHS copies from different distributors, and two suffer from poor resolution, with the washed-out colors of 16mm TV station prints. This is especially true of Simitar's EP speed. This is not entirely a bad thing. In Fragments of Fear: An Illustrated History of British Horror Films, Andy Boot writes: "photographer Peter Newbrook is a skilled man, but the quality of film stock he gets looks like super-8 blown up at times. But perversely this only adds to the strange feel of a film that seems to work by default." Boot is right. The film's faded visuals (and muddy audio and rough editing) curiously enhance its surreal oddness and stifling claustrophobia. I used to wonder how much of it was intentional, or ineptitude, or censorial editing. Because it works ... sort of.

However, I now think that Boot saw a VHS version, because the DVD is a wholly different and superior experience. The DVD film is ten minutes longer, incorporating scenes that have been lost over the years. These scenes answer crucial questions left hanging in the VHS version, such as the fate of Dorothy. The DVD also corrects the "poor resolution" and "washed-out colors" of the VHS, creating a significantly different aesthetic experience. These additional scenes and sharper visuals yield a film that's clearer both visually and storywise. That "strange feel" Andy Boot refers to lessened, as the DVD no longer looks like "super-8 blown up." If you've only seen Crucible of Terror on VHS, you haven't really seen it.

Mike Raven's tall large frame and booming DJ voice make him an imposing villain. It's easy to see why Victor intimidates and/or dominates others. Mary Maude's timid Millie ironically resembles Theresa, Maude's victim in The House That Screamed.

Crucible of Terror is not to be confused with another British horror film, Crucible of Horror.

"Victor usually gets rid of his birds pretty regularly.".......2005-04-20

I checked this film out solely based on the title, Crucible of Terror (1972), because I thought it sounded...well, cool...Crucible of...TERROR...oooh, sounds scary, doesn't it? Well, it wasn't...not one wee bit. It was kind of interesting, but more from a curiosity standpoint. Thing is, the whole `artist who creates art by destroying the living' thing has already been done, and in much better films like House of Wax (1953) and Bucket of Blood (1959). Co-written and directed by someone named Ted Hooker (in his one and only film), Crucible of Terror stars former British radio DJ Mike Raven (Lust for a Vampire, I, Monster) and Mary Maude (Scorpio). Also appearing is James Bolam (Straight on Till Morning), Betty Alberge (Disciple of Death), John Arnatt (Hysteria), Judy Matheson (Lust for a Vampire, Twins of Evil), Beth Morris (Son of Dracula), and Ronald Lacey, whom most will recognize as Major Toht from the film Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)...wow, he sure lost a lot of hair since this film...

As the film starts, we see scenes of a forge heating up, a nekkid, unconscious woman (enjoy it because this is it for the nekkid parts in the entire film) being covered in plaster or something, and then molten bronze poured from a crucible into the cast...then cut to a middling art show run by John (Bolam). Seems John is having a tough time of it, up to his eyeballs in debt, but pieces by one particular artist are selling well, and John sees an opportunity, but there's a catch. The artist, named Victor (Raven), is somewhat of a recluse, and John only had access to sell some of Victor's art because Victor's son Mike (Lacey) pilfered said art pieces from his father in order to support his enormous drinking habit (or so I'm guessing because the guy was constantly hammered throughout the film). Anyway, John pressures Mike for an introduction, and Mike suggests they go to the old family homestead for the weekend and bring along the wives Mille (Maude) and Jane (Morris). When they arrive at the remote home (which happens to be built on a haunted tin mine, by the way) on some English coast, we meet Victor, along with his slightly daft wife Dorothy (Alberge), a live-in friend named Bill (Arnatt), and Victor's latest model Marcia (Matheson), whom Victor seems to be tiring of, especially with the arrival of Mille and Jane. Well soon some deaths occur due to a slight case of...MURDER (funny how nobody misses these recently departed individuals, but whatever) at the hands of a mysterious killer, Victor becomes increasingly obsessed with Mille, constantly pestering her to `pose' for him while John is away trying to scrape up some dough to buy some of Victor's paintings, and we learn Victor has instructed Bill to fire up the forge...uh oh...things eventually come to a head, and all is revealed, one way or another...will Millie become the next `piece' in Victor's collection? Who is the mysterious killer prowling the grounds and the mines?

I really didn't know what to expect with this film, as I neglected to read any reviews, but having seen it, I realized I probably could have gone through the rest of my life without having seen it...it's not that this was a bad film, but it wasn't particularly good, either. Given this was the director's first film, I thought he did a decent job presenting the story despite the fact the story itself just felt weak in general. It was slow, plodding, and didn't really seem to get going until about a third of the way into the film. The opening sequence drew me in, but my interest waned as various characters were trotted across the screen, each with their own particular peccadilloes (what was the point of having Dorothy in a state of arrested mental development, showing her acting, and even dressing like a child, reminiscent of Bette Davis in the 1962 film Whatever Happened to Baby Jane)? While Victor certainly treated her poorly, I found little to support reasoning for her complete, regressive state). The acting in general was pretty unspectacular, with the exception of Raven who got quite hammy as the film wore on (not necessarily a bad thing), and his obsession with Mille becomes rather two-dimensional...'You inspire me'...'You must pose for me'...repeated ad nauseam...the characters were odd in that most of them had, or desired, multiple relationships...John, who is with Millie, is also involved with a patron who helps fund his business at times...Mike, who is married to Jane, comes on to his father's model Marcia (Mike and Jane's marriage isn't on the most solid ground)...Marcia seems to have an interest in Millie (which never went anywhere...sadly)...Bill has an interest in Victor's mentally challenged wife (to be fair, his interest went way back, before she went loopy), and Victor seems interested in any woman who isn't his wife (even his daughter-in-law Jane...ew...as far as the element of who's doing the killing (one worthwhile scene involves someone getting acid thrown in their kisser), I didn't guess the identity before it was revealed. Oh, the pieces were there, but, I think, my interest wasn't...the finale is satisfactory, but I really disliked the clunky expository sequence at the end, describing in great detail (including extensions of scenes already shown), who the killer was and why...it sort of made sitting through the rest of the film pointless, as the recapping explained everything to the audience giving the impression we had the mental capacity of children, unable to intuitively deduce the obvious or project beyond what we're shown.

As far as the DVD release from Image Entertainment, it was a let down. I'm unsure what the original aspect ratio of this film was, but it's presented here in a full screen format. The picture quality ranges from decent to poor, as a good deal of the source material used suffers from white speckling. The Dolby mono audio is very soft, and I had to crank the volume to hear the dialog. There are three choices for audio in English, Spanish, and a music and effects only track. There are really no special features available, and the film starts playing once the DVD is installed into a player. All in all, a decent effort by a first time director, but hardly worth the hefty price tag.

Cookieman108

By the way, the description under the editorial review section of Amazon seems to have a number of things wrong with regards to the plot, unless I missed something...

This New Release Does The Film Justice!.......2000-08-17

A psychotronic gem and a rather original tale in the "mad artist" subgenre of horror film, this is the first version of "Crucible of Terror" not to suffer from ghastly editing and bad prints that have so far been the norm. Having seen the entire film while vacationing in London, I can say that this is 99% intact but I am not complaining about the missing 1%. The print is clear and some of the more erotic and disturbing scenes have not been hacked out. Character actor Ronald Lacey is a hoot as the embittered toad of a son to an equally piggish and megalomaniacal reclusive artist played by former BBC DJ Mike Raven. Raven definitely looks the part and a whole slew of other British character actors round out this macabre tale of art, obsession, and murder most foul. Recommended for lovers of bizarre low-budget cinema!

Average customer rating:

Curious, and curiously enjoyable, gothic family horror
DEAR OLD DADDY

Crucible of Horror
Starring: Howard Goorney , Michael Gough , Sharon Gurney , Nicholas Jones , and Yvonne Mitchell
Director: Viktor Ritelis
Manufacturer: Trinity Home Ent
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ASIN: B0009Q0F1E
Release Date: 2005-10-04

Description

Synopsis: Prepare for a terrifying horror that unravels a story of the macabre when young, beautiful Jane and her mother Edith conspire to end the tormented life they live with Jane's sadistic father, Eastwood. Terrified day and night by what horrible act he may commit next, the two women band together in the only way they can to save themselves

Customer Reviews:

Curious, and curiously enjoyable, gothic family horror.......2006-03-09

Crucible of Horror is about a mother and daughter who kill their husband/father, who then comes back to haunt them.

I know this, because several film guides say so. I don't know how they all know this, as I was thoroughly confused, but it's as good an explanation as any.

At least I am not alone in my confusion. To paraphrase TV horror hostess Elvira at film's end: "Well, that's the end... I guess because the cameraman said, 'Hey, we shot enough film for a movie.' So the director said, 'Okay, let's stop shooting'."

God help any movie when Elvira's putdowns actually prove cogent.

Actually, Crucible of Horror is not so bad. It's tense and enjoyable. It just makes no sense.

Michael Gough is the stern father, lording over his household. When his 16-year-old daughter (a lovely Sharon Gurney, looking older because, no doubt, she is) steals, Gough horsewhips her with a switch, leaving deep red scars. She's a bad girl, and as Gough is not one to spare the rod, this is a repeated ritual. During the beatings, Gough's wife (Yvonne Mitchell) cowers in another room. His son (Simon Gough) obliviously boogies to his music (using headsets to drown out sis's screams).

When Gough leaves Sharon's room, Simon eagerly pops out to ask: "What's sis done now?"

"Stealing," Gough bluntly replies.

Simon enjoys sis's repeated comeupance. He also avoids the switch. He's a strapping young lad following Gough into the insurance business, the pride of his dad's loins.

After one particularly nasty beating, mother and daughter resolve to kill Gough. And they do, apparently. Or maybe not. Gough's corpse keeps popping up in odd places. But not till late in the film, and even then we're not certain if it's under his own volition, or if it's being moved. And then things only get ever muddier...

You'll have to watch and decide for yourself if any of this makes sense. Now that I've clued you in, maybe it'll make some sense as you watch.

Crucible of Horror is nicely atmospheric in portraying the English suburbs and countryside, although for most of the film one gets the impression that one is watching a suspense thriller rather than a horror film. Gough provides the standout performance as the father. Especially chilling (and funny, in an extremely dark sense) is his serenity before and after his savage beatings. Discussing mundane trivia as though nothing of any import has occurred. Calm demeanor, placid voice, unruffled manner.

His daughter absent from breakfast, Gough nonchalantly asks, "Where's Jane?" An innocent question that carries dread for the mother and viewer, as we know what may follow. Or not. Gough is ever calm, and not every transgression is met with ferocity. No telling which innocent question precedes his fury.

Although confusing and slow-moving, Crucible of Horror has its defenders. In Fragments of Fear: An Illustrated History of British Horror Films, Andy Boot calls the film "interesting," adding: "While the script was nothing to write home about, the performances from Gough, Sharon Gurney, and Yvonne Mitchell are all strong, and the director shows some imagination in the handling of the subject, with good use of unusual angles."

Fair enough. But one can also sympathize with John Stanley, who in his Creature Features movie guide describes the film as: "A viewing crucible." At least Stanley knew what the film was about: "a spirit wreaking revenge." Or a corpse. Or something like that. I only wonder who clued in Stanley.

One way to handle obscurity is to look for a theme. Themes elevate the obscure into the profound. The Overlook Encyclopedia says the film: "could be seen as an allegory indicating that killing a patriarch doesn't eliminate patriarchy." Okay. That'll work.

Even so, I still think Elvira was nearest the truth. The poor vampress was befuddled throughout the film because it was a befuddling film. And to her credit, she had the courage of her convictions, looking beyond themes, and simply pronouncing that the emperor had no clothes.

Crucible of Horror is not a bad film, but better if you read about it before seeing it. That way, you'll know what the film's about as you view it. Also, not to be confused with another British horror film, Crucible Of Terror (1971).

DEAR OLD DADDY.......2006-01-18

This 1971 British "horror" film is certainly one of the most befuddling and confusing ones I've seen. Horror vet Michael Gough (BATMAN, KONGA, HORRORS OF THE BLACK MUSEUM) stars as a nasty abusive father and husband, and dotes only on his successful son Rupert. Mother Edith and daughter Jane conspire to kill dear old dad to get him out of their lives. They manage to do so when he goes off for a weekend of shooting at their cottage. But things go wrong when they return to the scene and find the body missing, or is it? The script by Olaf Pooley (who also plays the neighbor Reed) is so ambiguous, by the time the film's over, you don't know WHAT really happened. If it's an attempt to explain the decline into madness, Pooley isn't sharp enough to evince it. A real waste of time.

Average customer rating:

Crucible of Terror
Starring: Mike Raven"Mary Maude"James Bolam
Director: Ted Hooker
Manufacturer: Education 2000 Inc.
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000FDK75U
Release Date: 2005-01-01

Double Feature DVD - Eaten Alive & Crucible of Horror

Average customer rating:

3 1/2 stars - Especially for fans of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre!

Double Feature DVD - Eaten Alive & Crucible of Horror

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Horror | Genres | DVD | Video

Customer Reviews:

3 1/2 stars - Especially for fans of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre!.......2006-03-13

This DVD has two full length horror films on one side. The quality is not the best, but it is definitely watchable with no major audio or video problems. There is no scene access on the dvd.

Eaten Alive is a fun and twisted low-budget horror that fans of the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre will enjoy. Three of the original cast and crew take part in this movie, and as you watch, you will often be reminded of TCM. The soundtrack to this film is very similar to TCM, but still original.

There is a fair amount of unnecessary dialogue and adding crocidiles to this storyline seems a bit gimmicky, besides, they look really fake. Expect a small amount of really well done gore effects.

Overall Eaten Alive is a better than average horror flick that verges on being really creepy! 3 1/2 STARS

Average customer rating:

ENJOYABLE MURDERS
Why did I buy this?
Curious oddity grows with repeated viewing -- get the DVD
"Victor usually gets rid of his birds pretty regularly."
This New Release Does The Film Justice!

Crucible Of Terror
Starring: Mike Raven , Mary Maude , James Bolam , Ronald Lacey , and Betty Alberge
Director: Ted Hooker
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Horror | Genres | DVD | Video

Suspense | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

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ASIN: 6305945330
Release Date: 2000-08-15

Description

Reclusive artist Victor Clare's bronze female sculptures look so lifelike that they seem eerily... human! In the tradition of Vincent Price's "House of Wax," "Crucible of Terror" is the tale of an occult-dabbling sculptor possessed by a dead woman's ghost. Under her spell, he lures young, beautiful models to his remote studio where he carries out his horrific secret method for obtaining such realism--pouring hot wax over the living girls, molding them to his liking with plaster and, finally, imprisoning them forever in hot molten bronze! A chilling, atmospheric thriller with a twist ending.

Customer Reviews:

ENJOYABLE MURDERS.......2007-05-10

I LIKE MOVIES LIKE THIS.THIS WAS INTERESTING,AND SUSPENSEFUL.IT WASN'T SCARY.IT WAS DIFFERENT-BUT ENJOYABLE TO WATCH.NOT GORY-BUT THERE WERE DEATHS.

Why did I buy this?.......2007-03-08

Curious oddity grows with repeated viewing -- get the DVD.......2005-07-21

"Victor usually gets rid of his birds pretty regularly.".......2005-04-20

This New Release Does The Film Justice!.......2000-08-17

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