“They say the deeper you get, the easier it becomes.”
In 1865, in the jungles of Africa, a man is nailed to wooden beams. The man is Edward Markham (Alisster Williamson). He is tortured and disfigured in a voodoo ceremony by a tribe of natives, while his helpless brother Julian Markham (Vincent Price) looks on. The ritual has made Edward mentally unstable. Julian brings Edward back to the Markham Manor in England and keeps him prisoner, chained, in the attic.
Edward is desperate to escape his confines. He asks his lawyer Trench (Peter Arne) to bring an African witchdoctor N'Galo (Harry Baird) to England in secret. N’Galo creates a potion that makes Edward appear to be dead. Thinking his brother has died, Julian puts the comatose Edward in a coffin. Trench can not get to the comatose Edward. According to Julian’s family tradition, Edward must lie in state for a period. Due to Edward’s disfigurement Julian needs another body to show in his place. He blackmails Trench into providing one. Trench, his partner Mark Norton (Carl Rigg) and N’Galo kill the man who runs the boardinghouse N’Galo is staying at.
Edward is then buried. As soon as it is buried, body snatchers dig him up and bring his coffin to Dr. Neuhartt (Christopher Lee). Neuhartt uses stolen cadavers for his research. Edward, now awake, blackmails Dr. Neuhartt. The doctor agrees to hide Edward in his home. Edward dons a crimson hood to hide his face from servants and other prying eyes. Edward, now free, is on a mission to find N’Galo and learn why the natives deformed him. This knowledge sets him on a course for revenge.
“The Oblong Box” was released in 1969 and was produced and directed by Gordon Hessler. The movie title comes from a story by Edgar Allan Poe. And that’s about it. Although Roger Corman stopped making Poe influenced pictures in 1965, Price and AIP did not. At least they want you to think it’s a Poe story. It’s not. “The original script had the Markham brothers as twins, both played by Vincent Price. Although Price and Lee are the stars, and this is their first film together, they are on screen together for only about 30 seconds.
The credits spell Lee’s character’s name as Newhartt, however, a name plaque in front of his door spells it Neuhartt.
Reportedly, with the help of Christopher Wicking, the screenplay was reworked to incorporate the theme of imperial exploitation of native peoples in Africa. This theme gave the film a "pro-black" appearance that would later cause it to be banned in Texas.
The movie was actually a decent horror story. The plot doesn’t meander so much as it branches off. There are several tiny subplots that sort of turn back to the main plot. I found it an interesting extra to the movie. It is what you expect a gothic horror story to be. Add to that a little voodoo and some interesting plot devises and you have a good movie that keeps you interested.