A nutty antiques dealer (Jack Palance) starts to sacrifice women in different scary methods ,as he executes them in honor to an African idol named Chuku , whom he believes will reward him with immense power . He's reluctantly helped by his young helper (Martin Potter) . Meanwhile , two Police Inspectors (Detective Constable Michael Jayston and Percy Herbert) start investigating the strange events and along the way , things go wrong .
Tongue-in-cheek and offbeat tale of a crazed antique dealer who slays a number of women , as he sacrifices in honor of an African God . The story is uneven paced , suffering from some weak incidents and of varying quality , packing nice as well as fleeble moments. The main amusement results to be to guess the kind of murder to carry out by the creepy killer , ranging from impalement , stabbing , burning , to scaring people to death with an ooga-booga fright mask . Here stands out Jack Palance playing as a demented art dealer & antique-shop owner who performs nightly rituals thinking of being rewarded with unimaginable wealth if he merely offers up human sacrifice , as Jack gives an overacting but attractive performance . He's well accompanied by a great support cast formed by a lot of familiar faces , giving brief but charming performances , such as : Martin Potter , Michael Jayston , Percy Herbert , Diana Dors , Julie Ege , Edith Evans , Trevor Howard , Hugh Griffith , David Warbeck , Suzy Kendall , Kathleen Byron , among others .
The picture was regular but professionally directed by Freddie Francis , as it has somes flaws , shortcomings and failures . Freddie studied engineering but changed his career direction when he developed an interest in photography and cinema. Became a clapper boy at Elstree Studios in 1935, eventually working his way up to camera assistant at Pinewood. Wartime service with the Army Kinematograph Unit, then became camera operator at London Films. Worked on several films for Powell & Pressburger and John Huston. Full lighting cameraman from 1956. A noted exponent of British 'New Wave' cinematography . Started to direct from 1962, particularly horror films for Hammer and Amicus. Accepted many assignments to make a name for himself, but regretted this later when he became somewhat typecast in the genre. However, he was a stylist who created superior visuals for several poorly written films. After reading a script, he would 'photograph the film in his mind'. One of his personal favorites among his work as a director was The Skull (1965) and he replaced Terence Fisher as director on Dracula Has Risen From the Grave (1968) . As this craftsman director made several horror fims, such as : Dark tower, The Doctor and the devil, The Ghoul, Craze, Legend of the werewolf , Tales that witness madness, The creeping flesh, Tales from the crypt , The vampire happening, Dracula has rising from the grave, They came from beyond space , Torture garden, The skull, Hysteria, The evil of Frankenstein, Day of the triffids, Nightmare, Brain, Paranoic, among others . Rating : 5.5/10 . The flick will appeal to Jack Palance fans.
