Horrors of the Black Museum

Part time crime novelist, Edmond Bancroft (Michael Gough) uses a unique method to research his latest book. He secures implements of death, then hypnotizes a rube (Graham Curnow) to use these weapons to commit actual murders.

HORRORS OF THE BLACK MUSEUM opens with the most wickedly ingenious of these setups, that will force the viewer to think twice before ever using a pair of binoculars again! Scotland Yard is baffled as usual, even while Bancroft almost begs to be arrested.

Gough is his normal, exquisitely histrionic self, at times hitting near the "Tod Slaughter level" of mania. An entertaining romp for all involved...

One of my sci-fi/horror/fantasy reviews written 50 years ago: Directed by Arthur Crabtree; Produced by Jack Greenwood; Executive Producer: Herman Cohen, for Merton Park Studios (UK), released in America by American-International Pictures. Screenplay by Cohen and Aben Kandel; Photography by Desmond Dickinson; Edited by Geoffrey Muller; Music by Gerard Schurmann; Production Manager: Jim O'Connolly. Starring: Michael Gough, June Cunningham, Shirley Anne Field, Geoffrey Keen, Beatrice Varley and Austin Trevor.

"Psycho" forerunner about a mystery writer who tries out his bizarre crimes in real life. Notable for its endless parade of exploitative, well-built lovelies, and its gruesome but non-graphic mayhem.

It's a shame, really: with a delightfully lurid and catchy title such as "Horrors of the Black Museum" and advertising that hyped a special "Hypno-Vista" process, this could and should have been more fun. It's reasonably amusing, but its good moments are spread pretty far apart amidst a lot of talk and a slow pace.

Fiendish murders are plaguing the city of London, and prominent crime expert / journalist Edmond Bancroft (Michael Gough) just loves to write about it. He definitely has a flair for the sensational. This sets him at odds with the weary Scotland Yard detectives investigating the case, including Superintendent Graham (Geoffrey Keen, whom one may recognize from his appearances in several James Bond franchise entries) and Inspector Lodge (John Warwick).

The movie can boast a couple of nifty gadgets: binoculars that shoot needles into unwary eyes, a pair of ice tongs, and a miniature guillotine. The title derives from the collection kept by the Yard of hideous murder implements; Bancroft also maintains an impressive collection of his own.

Helping to make this little horror film palatable are gorgeous CinemaScope photography and an excellent cast also including June Cunningham as Bancrofts' fed-up girlfriend, Graham Curnow as his loyal assistant Rick, the lovely Shirley Anne Field as Ricks' gal pal Angela, Beatrice Varley as shop keeper Aggie, and Austin Trevor as Commissioner Wayne. But Gough, not surprisingly, thoroughly dominates the proceedings with a deliciously hammy performance. One could never accuse Gough of not giving a role 100% percent, and he doesn't disappoint here.

Overall, this is a mild diversion and no more.

Six out of 10.

Gough plays an arrogant journalist / author obsessed with a serial killer employing spectacular weapons to despatch his victims.

Wildly over played by Gough in best scenery chewing form and with a rather daft ending, this though makes for fun grande guignol late night telly.

'Horrors Of The Black Museum' is a dated but still entertaining Brit chiller that will most appeal to fans of William Castle's gimmick filled movies from the same era ('The House On Haunted Hill', 'The Tingler', '13 Ghosts', 'Homicidal',etc.) The late Michael Gough plays Edmund Bancroft, an eccentric writer and amateur crime expert, who irritates local police baffled at a spate of brutal and sensationalistic crimes, apparently without motive. Bancroft actually knows a lot more than the police suspect, and his meek protege Rick (Graham Curnow) is also involved, but not in the most straightforward way. The movie was originally released in "Hypnovision" but the reason to watch it today is Gough's larger than life performance, and the inventive killing methods, which include the much talked about binoculars-with-needles-in-the-eyepieces. Not a great movie by any means, but an amusing one.