The Shuttered Room

source: The Shuttered Room

Trailer—The Shuttered Room

The Shuttered Room

Outstanding and seemingly ignored horror film, based on a Lovecraft story. The creepy, intense POV shots (with accompanying weird background noises) predate Black Christmas by some five years. Also, "Shuttered Room" was almost certainly a big influence on "Straw Dogs"- a bizarre link to draw I know, but trust me, it is there. Although the film does have flaws (such as Reed's dodgy US accent, and the unintentionally hilarious karate-chopping husband), the compelling direction more than compensates. A real quality genre film.

"The Shuttered Room" is a Lovecraftian classic based on one of the 'joint' stories that August Derleth wrote from Lovecraft's unfinished notes after his death.It certainly uses 'Dunwich' and 'Whately' pretty often.The action takes place on a remote island.The old mill hides deadly secret in the attic.Sarah(Carol Lynley)brings her husband to visit her childhood home,but the community of the island is hostile and not very welcoming."The Shuttered Room" reminded me Sam Peckinpah's "Straw Dogs" with its central theme of sexual assault in a remote village.The air of menace is well-captured,the acting is impressive and several scenes have a strange,almost ethereal quality.The 'Old Mill' was an actual mill near Norwich in south-east England.On 30th May 1966 the mill was burnt to the ground for the film "The Shuttered Room".I can't believe that the filmmakers did this to such unique fantastic-looking watermill.9 out of 10.

As stated by several other folks here, I watched this movie with my twin sister when I was about 10 years old on the local station horror movie hour and was terrified by it. I remember it even now, how eerie the whole atmosphere of the movie was and the feeling of Carol Lynley's character being watched by some unseen but evil being, it really scared me as a child and I would love to watch it now to see if it would have the same impact. Probably not, but if you ever get the chance to see this film, I would encourage you to do so. Kind of weird too, Gig Young, who played the husband, went on to murder his wife in real life and then kill himself. Pretty weird.

I haven't seen this film in many years now, but it has always stayed with me. It has a terrific creepy air to it. The feeling of desolation, the barbaric local thugs led by the perfectly cast Oliver Reed; the lovely and vulnerable Carol Lynley, trying to unlock the mysteries of her childhood; the jazzy score (I can still remember the main titles - the camera peering through the windshield of that cool Thunderbird convertible looking upon Ms. Lynley's gorgeous face while the reflection of trees pass over her image and all the while the peculiar and somewhat jarring title music underscores the visuals). Great stuff. Sadly underrated and now, seldom seen, this film is a perfect companion piece to Ms. Lynley's other top drawer film - 1965's "Bunny Lake Is Missing". A DVD release is in order.

I saw this film years ago when it used to air on independent TV stations in the afternoon & haven't seen it since. Pity because this is a good film. Unfortunately, it never made it to video. In the early years of Reed's career he did mostly horror films where he was the "true Phantom Menace". He had a distintive glare that became his trademark. Well, he shows all that & then some in this film. This story centers around insanity, murder & family skeletons in the closet or in this case, in the shuttered room. If you like "Jane Eyre", I think you will like this one.

I first saw this when I was about 10. Yikes! Creep city. I can still remember the effect (if not the melodies) of Basil Kirchin's acid jazz music, Gig Young's Thunderbird and martial arts, Carol Lynleys' soft-edged innocence and beauty, the thugs led by oily Oliver Reed, and the mystery of the house itself (what is IN that room?). Years later, I see it as a middle-aged man, and unlike so many other films from my youth that fall flat, this holds up as a brilliant work of fear making, the kind of horror film that keeps enough in the shadows to keep one guessing but reveals enough to make one uncomfortable and on edge. IMHO, a classic.

Creepy! This is an unfairly unappreciated and extremely effective Gothic horror flick from the late 60's. It is also one of the better attempts to bring literary mastermind H.P. Lovecraft to the screen. The acting is magnificent! Carol Lynley and Gig Young are in top form as the bewildered young couple whose arrival in the small, tranquil village seems to trigger off a series of bizarre and ultimately deadly occurences. Veteran character actress Flora Robson is genuinely affecting as the strange old lady who seems to know a great deal more than she's telling about the secret that's hidden away in THE SHUTTERED ROOM. Oliver Reed is appropriately menacing as a young roughneck. This one is a little tough to find these days. It's not readily available in video stores, and though once popular on late night television, they rarely run it on TV. But should you be so fortunate to come across it, don't pass it up!