The grave of the living dolls
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The grave of the living dolls |
| Original title | Dark Places |
 | |
| Country of production | United Kingdom |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1973 |
| length | 91 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 18 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Don Sharp |
| script |
Ed Brennan Joseph Van Winkle |
| production | James Hannah Jr. |
| music | Wilfred Josephs |
| camera | Ernest Steward |
| cut | Teddy Darvas |
| occupation | |
| |
The Tomb of the Living Dolls ( Dark Places ) is a 1973 horror film with thriller elements and directed by Don Sharp .
action
Edward Foster meets old Andrew Marr at the St. Columbas Mental Hospital . Near death, the apparently completely mentally confused Andrew explains to him that he has hidden a treasure behind a wall in his country house. Marr dies, but has his friend Edward in his will as the heir of the property. Edward leaves the clinic the next day to inspect his new property.
The taxi driver who takes him from the train station to his property tells him that the locals do not approach the house because they believe that visitors to the house will be injured there. Indeed, once there, the floor collapses under Edward's steps and his leg is injured. He has his injuries from Dr. Ian Mandeville , the family doctor of the nearby small town, treats. When Edward tells the doctor that he wants to live in the old house, the latter tells him what is known in the village about the house. Many years ago Andrew Marr's wife and their children were allegedly victims of a violent crime. However, the bodies were never discovered. Andrew Marr went mad shortly after his family disappeared and has lived in an institution ever since. But the villagers tell each other that the house is haunted by the ghosts of the two children. Edward moves into the haunted house despite the stories. Sarah , the doctor's attractive sister, forces herself to be the housekeeper and starts an affair with him. In this way she tries to find out as much as possible about Edward's activities, because she and her brother have learned from the treasure, which has aroused their desire. The property manager, attorney Prescott , is also after the money. So he accepts Edward's claim to possession when Andrew Marr's will is in fact invalid.
Edward sees a portrait of the young Andrew Marr over the fireplace that looks astonishingly like him. He begins his search for the hidden treasure and notices voices and laughter from children, like footprints. A flock of bats attacks him and he finds horrific disfigured pupae. The longer Edward Foster lives in the house, the more he goes mad. Heavy dreams and visions of past events begin to plague him. Edward finds himself in the form of young Andrew Marr. Andrew's children are naughty and vicious. He believes that his wife has been suffering from a mental illness for a long time, which she passed on to their children. He has a secret relationship with the governess Alta and plans to leave his wife to start a new life with his beloved. He withdraws £ 210,000 from the bank to split it into two equal parts, one between his wife and two children and between himself and Alta. But his wife knows about the affair, has conspired with the children and kills Alta together with them, with the expectation that Andrew will no longer leave them. When he discovers the murder, he strangles his wife in an affect . In reality, however, Edward strangled Sarah. The two children are not spared from Edward's rage either. He kills her with a sword. Then Andrew walled up the four dead bodies with the money in an alcove in the house. Dr. Mandeville comes to the house to check on his sister, because he has learned that Edward was not part of the psychiatric staff as he said, but was a seemingly cured patient who was discharged shortly after the death of Andrew Marr. Edward is now completely insane. He kills the doctor with a pickaxe that he used to break into the wall that contains the four dead people and the money. A little later, attorney Prescott also enters the house and finds the brutally murdered there. Prescott immediately calls the police. But Edward disappeared without a trace.
background
The feature film was produced by the production companies Glenbergh and Sedgled . Jennifer Thanisch, later made famous through the television series Five Friends , was seen here for the first time in a film role, namely in that of Jessica.
The film was released in the USA , England , France , Italy and the Philippines . The film had its German premiere on November 25, 1977.
The film was released on video in England by HNP , in the USA by Embassy Home Entertainment and Sultan Video and in Germany by Bavaria and IMV . In the US, the film was also released on DVD by East West Entertainment with the films Phenomena (1985), Great attack of the zombies (1980), The Pit and the Pendulum (1967), Dracula and his Brides (1960), and Horror Express ( 1973) published together.
criticism
The lexicon of international films judged: "Fantastic horror film in the traditional manner; staged with a certain sense for elements of horror and reluctant to depict violence, but hardly psychologically justified."
Individual evidence
- ^ The Internet Movie Database - Companies involved in The Grave of Living Dolls
- ^ The Internet Movie Database - Jennifer Thanisch
- ↑ The Internet Movie Database - Launch Dates for The Tomb of Living Dolls
- ↑ Online film database - The grave of the living dead - version view - cinema
- ↑ Online film database - The grave of the living dead
- ↑ The best horror films - The grave of the living dolls ( Memento of the original from August 27, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ The Tomb of the Living Dolls. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
