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A Creature From the Grave Bears Witness to Murder...
Far too frequently overlooked and underrated, Black Torment is a British period horror
tale of murder, greed, madness and the supernatural, from the director of the inferior
Incense of the Damned (aka Bloodsuckers) and The Fiend, Robert Hartford-Davis, and
the writing team of A Study in Terror, Derek and Donald Ford.
Sir Richard Fordyke (John Turner) returns to his Devon country estate with his new
bride Elizabeth (Heather Sears), to find that all is not as it should be. A young farm
girl, Lucy Judd (Edina Ronay) has been raped and murdered in the woodland
surrounding the estate, her final words naming Fordyke as the culprit. Being in London
when the event happened, leads the unsettled and superstitious villages to accuse him
of devilment and witchcraft. With further claims of him being sighted in the village at
the time by seemingly convinced witnesses, the confusion and evidence against
Fordyke seemingly grows.
3 years previously, Fordyke’s first with, Anne, had committed suicide by throwing
herself from an upper floor window at the estate, yet locals claim to have seen her
riding on horseback through the woodlands in pursuit of Richard crying “Murderer”, at
the time while he was away in London.
Events become slowly more sinister and eerie, further murders occur and Fordyke
begins seeing the ghost of Anne prowling the grounds of the estate at night. Is he
loosing his mind or is Richard truly being haunted by his dead wife? The climax of the
film becomes rather predictable long before it’s executed, this doesn’t however make
the proceedings any less atmospheric or enjoyable.
Black Torment’s production company, Compton Films, were also responsible for other
genre releases, such as A Study in Terror and The Projected Man, as well as Roman
Polanski’s Repulsion and Cul-de-sac. The man partly behind this of course being
legendary British exploiter, Tony Tenser who later formed Tigon Films. While flawed,
the film certainly still stands up well alongside some of the better Tigon output, such as
Withcfinder General and Blood on Satan’s Claw.
With it’s cast giving solid, if not amazing performances, good use of sets and period
costumes and a certain amount of creepy gothic charm, Black Torment is a diamond in
the rough in the world of 1960’s British Horror.
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Black Torment is presented in a 1.33:1 (full frame) aspect ratio. Despite slight print
grain in places and the image being interlaced rather than progressive, it remains
strong throughout without ghosting or distortion issues. Colours are accurate with good
looking flesh tones, reasonably strong blacks and an overall crisp look. Given the film’s
age and budget this is a pretty good presentation.
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The disc comes with a limited mono track in English, which while having some slight
background noise in places, is adequate, if nothing else.
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Extras include an artwork gallery and stills gallery, with 14 images in each and
background music from the film. The primary extra feature is a 13 minute interview
with Director Robert Hartford-Davis, who discusses working in the UK film industry.
Also included are trailers for other Salvation releases - Cold Eyes of Fear, Killer’s Moon,
Requiem for a Vampire and the somewhat laughable Satanic Sluts 3: Scandalized,
which seems to play upon the media whoredom of Georgina Ballie… obviously
Grandfather Sachs isn’t concerned about her doing naff porn, sorry “Alt-porn”, but god
forbid she slept with Russell Brand!
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A fun, atmospheric and enjoyable, if maybe somewhat predictable effort, Black
Torment gets a welcome release that’s most likely to appeal to fellow fans of vintage
British Horror. If Hammer or Amicus are your thing, this is worthy of being added to
your wants list and a must have for British Horror completists.
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