The Locked Door (1967)

Movie
German title	The locked door
Original title	The Shuttered Room
Country of production	United Kingdom
original language	English
Publishing year	1967
length	100 minutes
Age rating	FSK 18
Rod
Director	David Greene
script	DB Ledrov, Nat Tanchuck
production	Philip Hazelton
music	Basil Kirchin
camera	Kenneth Hodges
cut	Brian Smedley-Aston
occupation
Gig Young : Mike Kelton Carol Lynley : Susannah Whately Kelton / Sarah Whately Oliver Reed : Ethan Flora Robson : Aunt Agatha Judith Arthy : Emma Rick Jones : Luther Whately Ann Bell : Mary Whately William Devlin : Zebulon Whately Charles Lloyd-Pack : Barge Master Bernard Kay : Tait Celia Hewitt : Aunt Sarah Robert Cawdron : Luther Whately Murray Evans : gang member Cliff Diggins : gang member Peter Porteous : gang member Anita Anderson : Susannah as a child Donald Sutherland : Zebulon (voice)

The locked door (Original title: The Shuttered Room ) is a British film from 1967 by David Greene . The script was written by DB Ledrov and Nat Tanchuck. It is based on a story by the team of authors HP Lovecraft and August Derleth . It stars Carol Lynley , Gig Young , Oliver Reed and Flora Robson . The film was first released on June 27, 1967 in London. It premiered in Germany on December 5, 1967.

action

The central location of the film is an old mill on an island in New England called Dunwich Island that has been abandoned by civilization . Already in the opening credits you witness strange, frightening scenes and shortly afterwards hear that the building has been cursed from old times and that it has already had devastating consequences.

Susannah Whately left Mill and Island at the age of four because her parents wanted to protect her from a sinister threat that weighed on the house. As a married woman, she is returning home with her husband, the wealthy New York publisher Mike Kelton, to view their legacy, which she remembers with horror. The young couple ignored the warnings from the superstitious villagers and their old aunt Agatha not to want to spend the night there. At first, he is not in danger from the mysterious roommate of the mill, who disfigured and murdered a young thieving islander during the night, but from a gang of young thugs who do not shy away from torture and rape. The leader of the group is the neglected-looking wild Ethan. When Susannah then takes refuge from the gangsters in the mill, her pursuer himself becomes a victim of the unknown being. Horrified, she then has to find out that her mad sister Sarah is the murderer. A big fire, to which the mentally deranged and the aunt fall victim, puts an end to the ghost around the old mill.

criticism

The lexicon of international films succinctly notes that the work is a skillfully staged psychological thriller. The Protestant film observer sums up his criticism as follows: "Through the skillful compilation of old and new horror elements and a sometimes captivating camera work, a convincing horror film was created that is quite capable of captivating viewers aged 18 and over."

Web links

• The locked door in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Discussion of the film at Echolog

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b} Evangelischer Filmbeobachter , Evangelischer Presseverband München, Review No. 14/1968, p. 18
2. ↑ Lexicon of international films , rororo-Taschenbuch No. 6322 (1988), p. 4097.