World renowned criminologist and sometime occultist William Sebastian (Robert Culp) calls on the help of his former partner Dr Hamilton (Gig Young) to assist him on an intriguing new case in England, a complex case that he claims will revolutionize theories on the subject of the occult. Hamilton, not one for believing in the occult, calls to his old friends home but is immediately intrigued, after he witnesses a tussle between good and evil, as Sebastian confronts and defeats an evil Succubus there. Sebastian tells him he has been hired by Anitra Cyon(Ann Bell), a member of an aristocratic family, who has concerns that her elder brother Sir Geoffrey Cyon (James Villiers) has become possessed by some evil spirit. They agree to travel to London together to investigate further, they are met at the airport by Mitri Cyon (John Hurt), the younger brother, who is to fly them by private jet to their destination. Almost immediately unseen forces seem to hinder their progress, as the plane looses power, but as Sebastian explains, things will get worse before they get better and that their journey will be "an unimaginable horror, a descent into hell". On arrival in London Sebastian and Hamilton go to visit an old friend, Dr Qualus, when they arrive they find his home in flames, on entering they find him dead on the floor, he had died seemingly trying to get inside a pentacle etched on the floor. Sebastian grabs Qualus's diary from the burning embers, only to be stopped from leaving by a large demon who is trying to gain access. The arrival of the local police wards off the hideous beast, Inspector Cabell (Gordon Jackson) an avid fan of Sebastian's, hopes they can work together in tracking down the brutal killer who is at large in the city, a killer whom he believes has just struck again with the killing of Qualus. The killings he tells them may have links to Sir Geoffrey or further up to members of parliament, a fact that may hinder progress in the case. Arriving at Kentworth abbey, the home of the Cyons, the duo find their intrusion less than welcome by Sir Geoffrey, more dangerous supernatural events begin to occur as they get closer to finding out the deadly truth. Spectre is a strange film, it purports to be British and yet with its American stars and its distinctly American look you'd never guess its origins. Written as a pilot by Gene Roddenberry(Star Trek) It is for all intents and purposes a modern re-imagining of Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson mixed in with some other shows, the fluffy harpsichord score is obviously aimed at the Columbo/Murder She Wrote set, the fact that Culp is involved, rams the fact home none too subtly. I'm not to familiar with Roddenberry's non Star Trek work, i know he had many failed attempts at creating a successful pilot, if i had to guess why he failed so often, i'd say its because he had too many ideas. Spectre has some intriguing premises, most of which have are none too original, but all mixed up they do have a certain charm. First off we have demons, a succubus, a demon lord called Azmodeus, ape like creatures, dreamy sex vixens, primordial stone circles, ancient pagan gods, witchcraft, evil dwarfs, old crones, satanic sacrifices, the list goes on...another odd thing is that the production does seem to have a decent budget and yet when it comes to the creatures they look as though they had a 50c budget, as they are given "lucky bag" creature teeth, the grand lord Azmodeus is but a man in a bad rubber lizard suit, the human/demon hybrids have lumps of moulded plastic stuck on their foreheads, a little too reminiscent of the Klingons for comfort. If the finances weren't there, most of the creatures should have remained off screen, it would have made for a less distracting movie and certainly one of better quality. That said director Clive Donner has assembled a fine cast, the performances are all quite watchable, Culp is believable and Young is amiable and they work quite well together, i think this film could have worked well in better hands, but sadly it never came to fruition, as it stands its a very enjoyable mess.
Review of Spectre
