The horror of Black Torment
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The horror of Black Torment |
| Original title | The Black Torment |
| Country of production | Great Britain |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1964 |
| length | 90 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Robert Hartford-Davis |
| script |
Derek Ford Donald Ford |
| production |
Tony Tenser Michael Klinger |
| music | Robert Richards |
| camera | Peter Newbrook |
| cut | Alastair McIntyre |
| occupation | |
| |
The horror on Black Torment (original title: The Black Torment ) is a British Gothic - horror film from the year 1964 , that of Tony tenser and Michael Klinger was produced. The film takes place towards the end of the 18th century. Directed by Robert Hartford-Davis , the writer wrote Derek and Donald Ford and starring are John Turner and Heather Sears to see. The film was heavily criticized at the time and therefore flopped at the box office.
action
A young woman, Lucy Judd, runs through the woods at night, obviously terrified. She is pursued by a figure in black who eventually overtakes her and strangles her.
In the next scene it is day. Sir Richard Fordyke rides in a carriage with his wife Lady Elizabeth to his country estate, Castle Fordyke. The newly married couple have just arrived from London. Lady Elizabeth is very nervous as Richard wants to introduce her to his father, Sir Giles Fordyke, and she hopes that she will make a good impression. Richard assures her that Sir Giles will love her as much as he does, but also that after a stroke he is in a wheelchair and is mute and therefore communicates through sign language. However, only Diane, the sister of Richard's first wife Anne, understands this sign language, who always translates for Sir Giles. When he arrives in the village, Richard is received by the blacksmith in a very unfriendly manner and treated with disrespect. Richard complains about it. Richard's coachman Tom goes to the blacksmith and asks him what happened during Richard's absence. The blacksmith replies that some believe Richard was never gone and tells him that Lucy Judd was raped and murdered and that she shouted Richard's name before she died.
Eventually Richard and Elizabeth arrive in the lobby of Fordyke Castle. There they are met by Richard's good friend Seymour and several servants and maids. Sir Elizabeth can make a good impression on Sir Giles, which he makes clear to her through sign language. Seymour is also reluctant and nervous about Richard. After the welcoming ceremony is over and Elizabeth has gone upstairs with her girls, Richard Seymour speaks out about his behavior. Seymour tells Richard about Lucy's death and her last words. He also says that several villagers reportedly saw him riding through the forest at night and was followed by a woman who was said to have shouted "Murderer!"
Elizabeth now makes the acquaintance of her maids, Mary and Kate. Mary tells her that she will soon marry her fiancé Brian, who is employed by the blacksmith, as soon as he has asked Sir Richard for a marriage license. Sir Richard comes into the room and says that he wants to be alone with his wife. The next day, Richard and Elizabeth eat with Sir Giles, Seymour, and Diane. On the table they find a piece of paper that says something in Latin . Sir Richard, who speaks Latin, should translate it. When he reads it, however, he walks out of the room in horror. Diane reads the note too and realizes that it only says the house's motto. Elizabeth goes to Richard and asks him why he was so shocked by this note. Richard tells her that his first wife Anne took her own life because of Fordyke's motto. Sir Giles desperately wanted a successor to Sir Richard, which was not possible because Anne was sterile. She went mad, believing that Sir Giles and Richard would hate her, and since the motto was everywhere that the Fordyke House would never go under, she fell out of a window. Richard shows Elizabeth Anne's picture in the house's ancestral gallery. Elizabeth finds out that all were Fordykes before Richard Giles. Elizabeth wonders why Richard is called that. Richard says that even amazes him because his father, Sir Giles, was always very traditional.
During the night Richard and Elizabeth are woken up by a rattling window. Richard gets up to close the window and realizes that it is the same window Anne jumped out of. He looks outside into the garden, where suddenly there is a woman in white who Richard recognizes as Anne. When he looks down a second time, Anne has disappeared. He goes to the window to close it. There he meets one of his servants who tells him that the window has been rattling since he traveled to London and Richard tells the servant to close the window with a grille.
That same night, Mary meets her fiancé Brian in the Fordyke stables. She asks him to finally ask Sir Richard for a marriage license and he promises her that he will do so the next day. When Brian left, Mary suddenly notices that a man is standing in the stable. The man kills her the same way Lucy does.
The next day Richard wants to ride out with Elizabeth. He asks for his stallion, Prinz. However, he is told that Prince is unavailable as he was ridden by an unknown lady last night. Richard is upset about it. Suddenly a man comes to him who brings him the side saddle that he has ordered. However, Richard did not order a saddle and rejects the man. The man tells Richard that he personally ordered the saddle. At first Richard is upset, but then sees the good quality of the saddle. He accepts it and shows it to his wife. She suddenly gets frightened and accidentally hits Richard with the whip. Richard sees that the name Anne has been embroidered on the saddle. Richard is beside himself and raging with anger. To make matters worse, the angry Brian comes to the castle, who swears revenge on Richard for allegedly killing his fiancée Mary.
That night Richard argues with Elizabeth because she whipped him and because he thinks she rode on Prince. He finally walks out of the room and to the now barred window from which Anne jumped. He looks outside and Anne appears to him again. He goes outside and goes after Anne. suddenly she has disappeared. He sees his white stallion Prinz, who is very excited. Richard gets on the horse, which suddenly passes him and rides madly through the forest. Suddenly Anne rides after him and shouts “Murderer!” Several times. He is finally taken from his horse and captured by his own soldiers, who seem to have seen him riding through the forest several times at night. They take him to their captain, who orders Richard to be released. Prince suddenly disappeared, so he takes a horse from the captain.
He comes back to Elizabeth, completely distraught, who is mad at him. She tells him he was only gone five minutes. Richard tells her what he went through and that he was gone for at least an hour. Elizabeth doesn't believe him. Suddenly they hear a loud bang. Richard goes outside. Anne's window and bars have been smashed. Elizabeth realizes that Richard is completely exhausted and comforts him.
The next day, Seymour asked Elizabeth to come over. He tells her that he has an explanation for Richard's strange behavior. Richard's grandfather was a very cruel man because he was schizophrenic . He believes that this disease was inherited from Richard. Elizabeth does not want to believe this, however. On the same day Richard wants to ride the carriage. He rides away without saying goodbye to Elizabeth. Elizabeth and Diane go into the castle where suddenly Sir Giles wheelchair rolls down the stairs. Elizabeth notices that a servant is talking to a man who sounds like Richard. The servant says that Richard is in the library and that he has just spoken to him. Elizabeth and Diane tell the servant that this is impossible because Richard has just left. The servant orders other servants to bring Richard back immediately, whereupon they are on their way. The door to the library is suddenly barricaded and Richard calls from inside that he doesn't want to be disturbed. Richard suddenly appears behind them and tells them that he rode back because the servants stopped him. You explain the situation to Richard and break down the library door. When they have done that, Elizabeth utters a loud scream, because in the library is not Richard, but Sir Giles, who was hanged on a chandelier.
A dinner will be held after Sir Giles' funeral. When Richard drinks his wine, he feels sick and dizzy because someone has poisoned him. Richard is put to bed. His servants all leave him alone. Anne suddenly appears to him. She tells him to follow her, whatever he does. She takes him to a man who is sitting in Sir Giles' wheelchair and has a cloth over his face. Richard tears off the cloth and is shocked to find that underneath is his own face. Elizabeth hears Richard scream and calls Seymour to go upstairs with her. However, Seymour suddenly disappears. Elizabeth goes upstairs where she meets Richard. Suddenly Anne appears and Richard tries to strangle Elizabeth, she flees from him. When they are on the stairs, Richard puts his hands around her neck. However, she shoots him in the face, causing him to die. Suddenly the real Richard appears. "Anne" reveals herself as Diane. She runs away, but is stopped by Seymour and runs straight into his sword. However, she is not dead yet and tells Richard that the other Richard was actually his insane twin brother that Richard knew nothing about and who committed the murders. Diane used him to drive Richard crazy and dressed up as Anne because she thought Richard was responsible for Anne's death. She says she wanted revenge on him for receiving all of Anne's fortune after her death. Richard tells her that Anne was poor and wanted to keep it a secret. Diane is horrified. She tells Richard that Seymour is her brother and warns Richard about Seymour before she finally dies. Seymour attacks Richard on it, saying that he is the rightful owner of Fordyke Castle. After a gripping sword fight between Richard and Seymour, Richard Seymour can finally impale a lance. Seymour falls out of the window from which Anne threw herself.
In the final scene, Elizabeth apologizes to Richard because she shot his brother believing he was he. Richard forgives her.
background
- Theatrical release
The horror of Black Torment started slowly in British cinemas in 1964 due to poor reviews. The Times described the film as "Stylish" and the Sunday Times as "Unintentionally weird". In the USA it ran in 1965 under the title Estate of Insanity . Because of the bad criticism, it was only released in cinemas in Germany in 1969. A new opening credits were made for the German version, which should make the film more interesting. A small profit could be made later through publications on VHS.
- Publications
After the film was shown in theaters in 1969, it was released by the Wonderworld and Intercontinental Home Entertainment labels under the title You Only Die twice on VHS . On September 18, 2008 it was released on DVD by the EMS label as part of the Der Fantastische Film series under the title The Gray on Black Torment .
criticism
The horror on Black Torment is judged ambiguously by the critics. Keith Topping included it in his book A Vault of Horror in the list of the 80 greatest British horror films and judged the film: "A reasonably successful costume drama with lavish equipment and many good actors who give their best despite the half-baked script." Time Out Film Guide praised the “atmospheric design” and the film lexicon Uneasy Dreams praised the “clean montage” of the film. John Hamilton wrote a biography of Tony Tenser entitled Beasts in the Cellar that The Horror on Black Torment was "a thoroughly entertaining film" and that it was "a shame Compton never tried another Gothic Horror."
"Due to the poorly imaginative script, it is only a moderately exciting mixture of horror and crime films in historical costumes."
“Like similar genre contributions from this time in the 18th century, the film can come up with appealing equipment despite the modest budget and after a continuous increase in tension offers an exciting sword fight as the finale. The actors, some of whom are known from Hammer productions, tend to exaggerate, especially the main actor John Turner. "
"The strip, filmed cleanly and not without external tension, but also not without excessively rough effects, is only recommended to friends of the horror film genre."
literature
Christian Keßler: Criticism of the DVD release. In: Splatting Image number 78 December 2008, p. 45.
Web links
- The horror of Black Torment in the online film database
- The horror on Black Torment in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Entry on the German VHS by Wonderworld in the online film database
- ^ Entry on the German VHS from Intercontinental Home Entertainment in the online film database
- ^ Entry on German DVD by EMS in the online film database
- ↑ Booklet of the German DVD from EMS (EAN: 4020974167307)
- ↑ The horror of Black Torment. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ Criticism on kino.de ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Evangelical Press Association Munich, Critique No. 212/1970.
