The Shuttered Room is an entertaining, sporadically suspenseful mystery-chiller which gets great mileage from a clutch of good performances. Out the four leading characters, only Carol Lynley seems misplaced. Gig Young, Flora Robson and Oliver Reed are all spot-on, especially Reed who simply excels as a lecherous thug. The story is atmospheric and unsettling, though the solution at the end resorts to an overused "monster-in-the-closet" explanation, which actually slightly damages the whole movie.
Young plays a middle-aged smoothie who has recently wed a much younger blonde bombshell (Lynley). She is amiable enough, but has frequent panic attacks related to something or someone that scared the hell out of her when she was still a baby. Young persuades her to return to the small, isolated community of her birthplace and to re-unite with the old family, hoping that by confronting her past she will be able to find out what caused her trauma and get over it. However, it turns out to be something rather threatening....
The film is nicely paced, with few tedious moments. It is well photographed too. The film has a dated look, with fashion, music and dialogue very much of its time (though, of course, that would be hard to avoid). However, for those who prefer their horror movies with subtle chills and a spooky build-up (none of that modern Hollywood gore and special effects-wizardry) this is a worthwhile experience.
