The Oblong Box

R

Released Jun 11, 1969

1h 31m

Horror

List

45%

11 Reviews

Tomatometer

36%

500+ Ratings

Audience Score

Julian (Vincent Price) hides his horrendously disfigured brother, Sir Edward Markham (Alister Williamson), in a tower where he is kept in chains. Anxious for freedom, Edward fakes his death with the aid of an immoral attorney, Trench (Peter Arne), and a pill that puts him into a catatonic state. But the escape plan takes a treacherous turn when Julian unwittingly buries his brother alive -- and he's later unearthed by grave robbers under the employ of malevolent Dr. Neuhardt (Christopher Lee).

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Liam D

Even with a good cast and fun title the movie is surprisingly dull

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

12/31/22

Full Review

robert p

Certainly not a great movie but thanks to Christopher Lee and Vincent Price this was an attempt at a good movie, however, even the two greats could not save this movie!!!

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

ased on the Edgar Allan Poe short story "The Oblong Box," the script for this movie by Lawrence Huntington and Christopher Wicking also brings in plenty of other Poe themes like masked men, premature burial and, well, voodoo. Which has nothing to do with Poe, but hey — this is the first time Christopher Lee and Vincent Price were in a movie together, so let's just ignore that. While in Africa, Sir Edward Markham (Alister Williamson, who usually is in a supporting role) has his face ruined in a voodoo ceremony — shades of how The Great Kabuki (Japanese version) got his facepaint — and is kept locked up by his brother Julian (Vincent Price). The secret is that the crime that he was punished for — killing a child — was really the fault of his brother. Now, he wears the scars for the crime he did not commit. He soon gets the family lawyer and a witchdoctor (Harry Baird, Cool It Carol) to help him fake his death, but his brother buries him — but first, a proxy as nobody wants to see what Sir Edward has become — before going off to marry his true love Elizabeth (Hilary Dwyer, which means that Matthew Hopkins finally got to have his way with Sara). Meanwhile, Sir Edward is dug up — still alive — and given to Dr. Newhartt (Lee) to use as an experimental autopsy. The facially deformed madman blackmails the doctor and starts murdering nearly everyone he meets. By the end of this movie, numerous people have been horribly killed and both brothers are sentenced for their crimes, if not by the law, then by karma. Sadly, this movie was to reteam Witchfinder General director Michael Reeves with Price. That film led to a renaissance of Poe films from AIP. However, Reeves fell ill while working on the film — he was also going to make an adaption of H.G. Welles' When the Sleeper Wakes with AIP. He'd die a few months later of an accidental drug overdose. Instead, this was directed by Gordon Hessler, who also made Pray for Death and Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park. The pro-black scene of the slaves rising up against Sir Edward was enough to get this movie banned in Texas, which happened within several of our lifetimes. The world changes eventually, right?

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/06/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Tubby Custard blood throughout; they certainly got a lot out of the knives. Entertaining.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/13/23

Full Review

ashley h

The Oblong Box is a decent film. It is about aristocrat Julian Markham who keeps his disfigured brother, Sir Edward, locked in a tower of his house. Vincent Price and Alister Williamson give good performances. The screenplay is a little slow in places. Gordon Hessler did an alright job directing this movie. I liked this motion picture because of the horror.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

This was going to be the fourth film directed by Michael Reeves ("Witchfinder General," "The Sorcerers," "She Beast"), who's a filmmaker I'm fascinated by, mostly because of the three intriguing horror films he directed before his untimely death. None of these films were horror classics, but they were unique stories and were more of an edge than most horror films of this era. I was particularly taken with "Witchfinder General" where Vincent Price gave a rare non-hammy performance and was terrific. "The Oblong Box" would have again paired Price and Reeves, but sadly Reeves died due to an accidental overdose during pre-production. Veteran horror director Gordon Hessler took over and made the film more in line with the previous AIP Poe film adaptations, which isn't a bad thing, but it's disappointing to not see what Reeves would have brought to this cycle of films. In this Poe tale, Vincent Price's brother, Alister Williamson, is buried alive, and then reappears wearing a red mask, exacting his bloody revenge. Overall, this film is not as classy or smart as the Roger Corman Poe films, but it's entertaining none-the-less.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/31/23

Full Review

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Gordon Hessler

Director

Vincent Price

Julian

Christopher Lee

Dr. Newhartt

Alister Williamson

Edward

Hilary Heath

Elizabeth

Peter Arne

Trench

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Kristin Battestella

InSession Film

Despite a somewhat thin story execution, the charming cast and masked mystery provide classic scares.

Apr 19, 2024

Full Review

Jeffrey M. Anderson

Combustible Celluloid

The killings, with their fake stage blood (actors simply drag a blood-soaked stage-blade across flesh and leave a red mark) are laughable. It's ultimately more of a costume pic than a chiller.

Rated: 2.5/4

Nov 15, 2022

Full Review

Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Too many scenes are protracted beyond the breaking point.

Rated: 2/4

Oct 1, 2022

Full Review

Nicholas Bell

IONCINEMA.com

Less thrilling than it seems roundly determined to remain obsessively complicated since its narrative hobbles any chance of mystery in its first act, the film is about as unnecessary as Poe's titular euphemism for a coffin.

Rated: 2/5

Oct 20, 2020

Full Review

Michael Szymanski

Zap2it.com

Rated: 2/5

Sep 21, 2005

Full Review

Steve Crum

Kansas City Kansan

Eerie Price programmer.

Rated: 3/5

Nov 1, 2004

Full Review

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Synopsis

Julian (Vincent Price) hides his horrendously disfigured brother, Sir Edward Markham (Alister Williamson), in a tower where he is kept in chains. Anxious for freedom, Edward fakes his death with the aid of an immoral attorney, Trench (Peter Arne), and a pill that puts him into a catatonic state. But the escape plan takes a treacherous turn when Julian unwittingly buries his brother alive -- and he's later unearthed by grave robbers under the employ of malevolent Dr. Neuhardt (Christopher Lee).

Director: Gordon Hessler
Screenwriter: Lawrence Huntington
Production Co: American International Productions
Rating: R (Sexual Content|Some Violence)
Genre: Horror
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 11, 1969, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 1, 2016
Runtime: 1h 31m

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