At the age of four, Susannah Whately (Anita Anderson) is attacked by something as she lay asleep in her bed. Her parents, John Whatley (Robert Cawdron) and Mary Whatley (Ann Bell) send her to live in New York City. Susannah grows up and marries Mike Kelton (Gig Young). When she turns twenty-five Susannah (Carol Lynley) inherits an old mill on Dunwich Island. The mill had been her home but now that her parents have died, Susannah and Mike go to Dunwich Island to see if the mill can be refurbished and used as a summer home.
The Keltons find the locals on the island inhospitable. Even Susannah’s Aunt Agatha (Flora Robson) isn’t happy to see her niece. She warns them that there is a curse on the mill and urges them to return to the mainland. The main issue is an adult Juvenal delinquent named Ethan (Oliver Reed), who is a distant relative of Susannah, and his gang of backwoods minions. Mike dismisses the talk of a curse and does his best to ignore Ethan.
Mike and Susannah begin the process of settling in and cleaning up the mill. As they work, they are unaware that they are not alone. Hidden in a locked room is a secret that Aunt Agatha is trying to hide. Between Ethan lusting after Susannah and the secret of what is in the locked room, Susannah is pushed to the edge. Memories suppressed begin to come to the surface. Death and destruction are not far behind.
“The Shuttered Room” AKA “Blood Island” was released in 1967 and was directed by David Greene. It is a British horror film that was loosely based on the 1959 short story by August Derleth. The story is presumably a posthumous collaboration with H. P. Lovecraft. There are some Lovcraftian aspects to the movie, but whether or not Lovecraft was actually part of a collaboration is up for debate.
Most of the film is Oliver Reed’s character trying to rape Carol Lynley’s character. There are moments that are actually creepy and or scary but there are also lots of moments that are a little tedious. The movie tries to build intensity, but it doesn’t always succeed. Scary parts are outweighed by little slow burning montages. There are some artistic shots that are nice and even add some gothic touches but the subplot between Reed and Lynley has a tendency to take the horror and suspense down a couple notches. The music score is an unusual jazz style that, although slightly strident, isn’t all that bad. The cinematography is the best part of the film. Not a horrible movie, but longer than it needed to be.
The mill used in the film was a local landmark that the people who lived in the area were proud of. The filmmakers purchased it specifically to burn. Although the residents of the area protested its destruction, it was still burned to the ground.
The voice of Zebulon Whately, who was played by William Devlin, was dubbed by Donald Sutherland.