Horrors of the Black Museum (1959) User Reviews

Fiendish Fun!

[Coventry · 7/10 · 8 July 2005]

"Horror of the Black Museum" is incredibly dated, unimportant and overly silly but it remains great fun to watch and watch it again. The opening sequence is delicious and definitely the best part of the entire movie. It involves the supposedly third strange and random murder in the London region and shows a poor woman getting her eyes gouged out by a pair of ingeniously spiked binoculars. A better opening to a colorful horror movie is hard to imagine and you're automatically preparing yourself to see a blackly comical and sadist horror gem. The quality-level of this intro naturally can't be held up throughout the entire movie but the script remains involving and surprising enough to keep you amused for a good 80 minutes. Scotland Yard hasn't got a clue where to begin their investigation and – on top of that – they're constantly annoyed by the vain columnist and pulp-novelist Ed Bancroft. The mysterious killer's identity isn't kept secret for long (I even assume it wasn't meant to be a secret) but his/her insane persona is imaginatively deepened. The "Black Museum" is a technical term to describe the police archive of bizarre and unusual murder weapons that were used in murder cases. The killer here has such a private collection himself which provides the film with a couple of utterly cool gimmicks, like the previously mentioned binoculars, an acid-bath and even a mini-guillotine! Michael Gough is seemly having a great time portraying the cripple cynic Bancroft. His performance is more than decent yet I agree with another reviewer here who already claimed that this role would be even more fit for Vincent Price. This film was the first entry of a Sadian horror trilogy, the others being the 1960 "Circus of Horrors" and "Peeping Tom". "Horror of the Black Museum" is the weakest of the three but still a terrifically odd and sensational genre highlight.

My first time viewing, really enjoyed it.

[Stevieboy666 · 7/10 · 17 December 2020]

The opening scene has a young, attractive woman receive a mystery gift in the mail, a pair of binoculars. When she tries them out two metal spikes impale her brain via her eyes, this is a delicious taste of what else is to come. A series of bloody but elaborate killings is gripping London, the police are on the case (one is played by Geoffrey Keen, a familiar face from the James Bond movies), but so too is Edmond Bancroft, a real life crime writer - who just happens to have his own Black Museum in his large home! Bancroft is played by the marvellous Richard Gough, a star of many films and TV, horror being one of his specialities, and his character here is highly intelligent but equally obnoxious, he hams is up wonderfully. I love black and white movies but this was filmed in colour, so not only do we get red blood but the whole film looks fantastic, very colourful. Not only is this a rather grisly but hammy and fun horror movie it also gives a fascinating glimpse of life in London in 1959. The film's finale takes place at a funfair, the Tunnel of Love scene is brilliant, there is a nod to the Jekyll and Hyde story here. It would also be fair to consider this as an early slasher/psycho maniac movie. I have just watched this for the first time, it was screened on TV. I enjoyed, I have just ordered a copy on DVD and look forward to seeing it again.

Garish, grisly slice of 1950s exploitation

[Leofwine_draca · 7/10 · 1 August 2016]

Is it forever Michael Gough's fate to play crippled characters? With his hand-less performance in DR TERROR'S HOUSE OF HORRORS, his wheelchair-bound role in HORROR HOSPITAL, and now this cane-assisted stance in HORRORS OF THE BLACK MUSEUM, it seems this unfortunate actor always comes off the worst. But I digress. HORRORS OF THE BLACK MUSEUM is a classic example of an early exploitation film, produced by non less than Herman Cohen, responsible for loads of classic films of this type in the late '50s/early '60s. With an off beat and clever idea (crime writer commits murder to sell his stories) and a twist monster-on-the-loose ending (with Cohen involved, what else would you expect?), the film never fails to entertain.

Chief entertainment comes from the series of murders, which, while not explicitly gory like the Friday the 13th films, are however all staged elaborately and decoratively, and also cleverly, with much relish, like the murders in THEATRE OF BLOOD and the PHIBES films (but never so campy!). Highlights include the memorable binocular death and a woman having her head cut off by an axe, but the best death (or tackiest) occurs when the doctor is electrocuted by a bad special effect, then has his skin boiled off and becomes a skeleton! This scene is a piece of classic horror and easily the best moment of the film.

Although the monster makeup leaves something to be desired (it basically looks like grey paint), there is a good scene with the monster in a hall of mirrors, where he is taunted by a young couple before turning on them with a knife! While none of the acting is sub-par, with the likes of Shirley Anne Field involved (also, Geoffrey Keen has a role as a tough policeman), the film really belongs to Michael Gough as the criminal genius. He also sports the same ridiculous bleached hair as he did in the next year's KONGA! Gough is superbly civilised and a man of true evil, much like in his other films, and as always he's a delight to watch, I'm surprised that this prolific actor is overlooked so much and in the shadow of contemporaries like Cushing and Lee but he always puts in a solid, tongue in cheek performance and raises the level of the films he's in (much like Peter Cushing did). HORRORS OF THE BLACK MUSEUM is a typical piece of '50s exploitation, much in the style of CIRCUS OF HORRORS and is a film which is raised above average by the strength of Gough's performance alone. Definitely one for the collection.

Dated but still entertaining Brit chiller.

[Infofreak · 12 April 2003]

'Horrors Of The Black Museum' is a dated but still entertaining Brit chiller that will most appeal to fans of William Castle's gimmick filled movies from the same era ('The House On Haunted Hill', 'The Tingler', '13 Ghosts', 'Homicidal',etc.) The late Michael Gough plays Edmund Bancroft, an eccentric writer and amateur crime expert, who irritates local police baffled at a spate of brutal and sensationalistic crimes, apparently without motive. Bancroft actually knows a lot more than the police suspect, and his meek protege Rick (Graham Curnow) is also involved, but not in the most straightforward way. The movie was originally released in "Hypnovision" but the reason to watch it today is Gough's larger than life performance, and the inventive killing methods, which include the much talked about binoculars-with-needles-in-the-eyepieces. Not a great movie by any means, but an amusing one.

Dated but so bad it's almost good

[sossy65 · 7/10 · 15 February 2010]

As another reviewer mentioned, this film was horrifying to those of us who saw it as kids when it first came out. Horrors of the Black Museum was produced before technical effects became morph-driven and so fake they're not believable (even though they might be scary). Unlike Fiend Without a Face (also mentioned in these reviews) or The Blob, this movie doesn't rely on mechanically produced monsters. which means an imaginative child or paranoid adult could perhaps picture its horrors actually happening. A stretch, surely, but still . . .

Pre-movie sequence demonstrating colors and hypnosis was funny and hokey even when the film was first released. The horrors, however, had many children (me included) suffering from nightmares for years. The binocular scene was particularly frightening, but not as frightening as the beheading scene. I cautiously checked the tall bedroom ceiling in the old farmhouse where I grew up for a long while after seeing this flick.

Overall, after getting over the heebie-jeebies that lingered for years afterward, I have fond memories of this film. Anyone who is a fan of the 1950s chiller genre might enjoy the dated look and feel of it as well as the scare-factor it can generate in a viewer.

Who is so stupid that they'd try to blackmail a serial killer?! She clearly deserves a Darwin Award!!

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 8 February 2016]

"Horrors of the Black Museum" is a reasonably enjoyable film, though some other films with similar styles of wild murders are certainly a lot more enjoyable such as "Theatre of Blood" and the Dr. Phibes films. There are also a few times where the script could have used a bit of a polish.

Michael Gough plays a nasty writer who is creating a museum of crime. The police think he's creepy but also respect his practically encyclopedic knowledge of murders. What they don't realize is that his books and museum are so accurate because he commits crimes...or at least, by proxy. It turns out that he's hypnotized his assistant into becoming a murderer and he does all the crimes for him---presumably because Gough's character has extreme difficulty walking.

As for the murders, they're very grisly for 1959 and often very creative. Seeing one person with spikes shooting into their eyes another decapitated and another killed with ice tongs to the throat certainly is memorable!! But in the case of the ice tongs, it's actually VERY stupid and a bad cliché. This is because someone realizes who the killer is and instead of going to the cops, she tries to blackmail him!!! And, there is no one around to stop him from killing her...DUH!!! The ending also seemed a tad disappointing. Still, the craziness of the killing and the typically angry performance by Gough make this worth seeing even if it isn't exactly art and even if you learn almost immediately after the beginning of the film who the guy is who is behind the killings!!

The End of My Childhood

[radhaone · 5/10 · 29 October 2006]

The Horrors of the Black Museum is a diabolical film. I was not more than eleven or twelve when I saw it. Dropped at the curb to enjoy Quarter Saturday at the Movies.It left me so traumatized that I was sitting in the lobby when my mother came, uncharacteristically silent. I had spent most of the time after the "binocular" murder, trembling alone with the thought, " What grown-up dreamed this stuff up for a child to watch? What are grown-ups really like?" I knew some of them didn't care what they exposed kids to to make a quarter! I remember trudging to the lobby as if in a fugue state, afraid to turn my back on that abomination.

I know there are folks who love this genre, and as long as they are grown-ups, they can do the backstroke in ketchup blood and wallow in sadism. Free country. But this movie gave me nightmares into adulthood. It's probably still lurking in my psyche today. It is why I know that children must be sheltered from material adults can handle.

I guess it was effectively gruesome and twisted for the fans of the genre.

"You are only half a man without your cane"

[BaronBl00d · 7/10 · 24 July 2012]

Call me crazy(and many do!)...I have a thing if you will for Michael Gough - the Third-rate Horror King! Konga! Black Zoo! Horror Hospital! Berserk! Trog! Satan's Slave! He did these - and a few more - whilst being a proper, mainstream British actor. He really did have quite an amazing career. Here again, Gough overacts his way as a crippled author way too interested in some murders in Londoin involving weapons he knows are in the police's infamous arsenal of murder weapons - their Black Museum. Watching Gough oil his way through scenes, bark out orders or diatribes about some silly nonsense, accentuate his crippled affectation, or just leer or look condescendingly on some poor unfortunate person make this film work for me. Made in 1959 the film does have some grizzly murders: a pair of murderous binoculars. A bedroom mini-guillotine. Fantastically large ice tongs. The murders are, for the time, quite bloody. Producer Herman Cohen, who would work on many of the above films with Gough, always knew how to put a good show on for the audience. This film is no different. As always in these films, the acting far exceeds my expectations. Gough is Gough. He is the film's main attraction in my opinion. You just got to love that voice and that bi-colored hair! But the supporting players are all very decent with Geoffrey Keene doing a very serviceable job as a police inspector. He was in many of the Bond pictures post 1970. Gerald Anderson is good as a physician. Grahmn Curnow is interesting as Gough's murderous assistant. Not great mind you. Then there is June Cunningham as Gough's mistress. First, let us say that she is sexy. Very sexy. Blonde. Buxom. What more could you want? If you said nothing more, then good because that is exactly what you get. Cannot act at all. But the scene where she belittles Gough is a great scene just for the humor - mostly unintended and its sleazy aspects. What about the scene where she mugs for the camera shamelessly dancing by herself. It was very, very funny. Now, we come to what was the most painful aspect of the film. The 13 minute Hypnovision lecture by eminent hypnotist Emile Frachel. He is long-winded, boring, and repetitive. I was almost hypnotized to turn the film off. The only thing I saw at all in the subsequent film that dealt with Hypnovision was the ways some scenes would fade with red, because we were taught in that 13 minute opus that colors mean certain things. YAWN! Anyway, I enjoyed this film. It is better than some might have you think. It is fun and entertaining. It has Michael Gough. He may not have been one of the mainstream horror icons, but he has a place there in my heart and memory.

Gruesome but fun

[preppy-3 · 7/10 · 10 February 2000]

A series of gruesome murders in England have Scotland Yard baffled. Crime journalist Edmond Bancroft mocks the police for not finding the killer. Since he's played by Michael Gough we all know he's the killer.

I saw this film constantly on TV when I was in high school and have very fond memories of it. Seeing it again on DVD it's lacking. The script is REAL stupid, the dialogue terrible and most of the acting is dreadful--Graham Curnow as Bancroft's assistant is especially bad (no surprise that he never made another movie). But it's still worth seeing.

The murders are very bloody and gruesome--by 1959 standards. The opening one is especially sick. But they're so over the top (and completely impossible) that they become fun to watch. Also Gough chews the scenery in every scene he has--especially towards the end. So it's worth seeing for Gough and the murders.

Also this originally opened with a 13 minute prologue about hypnotism which plays a part in the film. It's real silly but hysterically funny. It's available on VCI's DVD (which has an incredibly good print of the movie).

Nasty late Fifties British shocker still packs a punch today

[mlraymond · 5/10 · 27 October 2006]

Some viewers seeing this movie decades after it was made may never have seen the thirteen minute prologue that was tacked on for American audiences. If at all possible, try to see this version. The lecture/demonstration on hypnosis by Dr. Emile Franchel is more entertaining than anything in the movie that follows it. Dr. Franchel does his best to convince the audience that anyone can fall under the spell of a hypnotist, especially those people who claim they can't be hypnotized. He experiments with making the audience feel cold, then hot, and to resist the overpowering urge to yawn when you see someone else yawning. The actual movie starring Michael Gough is likely to keep most viewers awake, even if the film is dated. The shocking violence that occurs at the beginning sets the tone for the rest of the picture. There are parts that seem unintentionally funny at times, but the overall impact is pretty disturbing. It has less to do with the murders and torture machines than the truly sick and twisted character of Edmond Bancroft, played by Gough. It's hard to define, but he brings this repulsive character to life almost too convincingly. You actually begin to believe that he is the monstrous character he's playing. The film isn't very remarkable, aside from Gough's performance, except as a peek beneath the surface of respectable English life in the Fifties.SPOILERS AHEAD: I don't know if anyone else has ever noticed this, or will agree with my theory, but I get a very strong and uncomfortable suggestion of an unhealthy homosexual relationship between Bancroft and the young man who assists him. The older man's possessive nature, his fury at finding the young man kissing his girlfriend right in the Black Museum that Bancroft has previously described as being their own private world, his raging denunciation after the young woman has left that women can't be trusted with secrets, and especially the scene where Bancroft acts fatherly in a creepy way. He tells his young assistant that it's really his own fault for not having given the lad his injections often enough, and proceeds to dose the passive youth with some kind of drug, telling him it's for his own good. There is something way beyond creepy in these sequences, though whether it was intentional or not, I couldn't say. This infamous cult film should be seen at least once, just out of curiosity, but be warned, it leaves a pretty bad taste in the mouth.

" In every war the historian gets more money than the foot solider."

[morrison-dylan-fan · 8/10 · 23 October 2016]

Ordering the very good Horror Noir Cat Girl from Network during their sale,I stumbled upon another British Horror film. Becoming aware of the title after reading a positive review from Kim Newman,and knowing Michael Gough as one of the main character actors from Hammer Horror,I got a ticket for the museum.

The plot:

For the last few weeks someone has been going around killing women in London and the police have no clue who it could be. Being a best selling True Crime writer, Edmond Bancroft pushes into the station and gets details for his next book. Laughing behind their backs, Bancroft falls in love with doing the killings himself,and knowing that there is no chance the cops will catch him (with the bonus that he can included the murder in his next book!) Going to buy his next murder weapon from the antiques shop,Bancroft is taken aback,when the seller asks him what has he been using the objects for.

View on the film:

Including the US " Hypnovista" intro as an extra,Network deliver a sparkling transfer,with the picture retaining its vivid shine,and the soundtrack ringing with crisp screams.

Made when British Gothic Horror was at its peak,the screenplay by Herman Cohen and Aben Kandel breaks the castle walls down with an almighty thump.Taking inspiration from Film Noir,the writers dismantle the English "Gentlemen" cad of British Horror for the scum of the earth,who wallow in darkness as Bancroft pens a new murderous tale.Taking delight in keeping the cops completely out of their depths,the writers axe the flick with a mischievous dark sense of humour, throwing bonkers methods of killing (a bedroom guillotine!)and acid-tongue,spiteful dialogue at the viewer.

Bowing out for the final time,director Arthur Crabtree stakes the most kitsch aspects of the film with a sheer delight.Giving Bancroft his own "Batcave" Crabtree paints Bancroft's novel with the most garish colours possible,grinding in wet blood being dropped on the streets by Gerard Schurmann's roaring score,to Bancroft's lair being soaked in brightly coloured blocks. Curling his lips at every wickedly chewy one liner, Michael Gough gives a raging, bouncing off the wall performances as Bancroft,thanks to Gough knocking his wooden co-stars down with a sly smile which breaks out into shrieks and howls,as the Black Museum closes its doors.

Learning how to kill with the art of just turning on a light switch.

[mark.waltz · 6/10 · 7 June 2018]

To recent film audiences, Michael Gough is best known as Alfred, the Butler, in the first few of the "Batman" movie franchise. But to classic horror movie buffs, he's the forgotten master of terror, brushed aside to obscurity among names like Tod Slaughter and Lionel Atwill. But in rediscovering the series of British grand guignole near masterpieces, I have come to gain an appreciation for the artistic end of the horror movie game, where he, tall and lanky like Boris Karloff and Vincent Price, and not nearly as obvious in his horrific activities like Bela Lugosi or the forgotten Tod Slaughter. In this film, he's the proprietor of a private museum of terrors, and when a series of gruesome slaughters begin to plague London, Scotland Yard goes to see him, not as a suspect, but to aide them in their quest to find the maniacal killer, because of his knowledge of the type of tortures used to knock off the victims.

The killings themselves are done very subtly, but indicate the gruesome ways in which people are killed. A jilting lover gets the guillotine; A nosy shopkeeper becomes a bloody mess thanks to a pair of ice tongs. The very first scene in the film has a woman looking through a dual kaleidoscope, and screams out in agony as blood drips quickly down her body. By doing all of this subtly, the filmmakers really make the viewer prepare for the unexpected, yet when these creepy murders do occur, the way they are presented will still have you either jump, go into a quick shock (then be convulsed with laughter over the ingenious way they are presented), or drop your jaw and want to re-wind to see it all over again. The number of Gough's victims also includes his young assistant (Graham Curnow) who has basically been blackmailed into silence, and then is later drugged into committing his own murder so Gough will be able to keep him in check. The finale, set at an amusement park, is a riveting conclusion to what deserves to be added to the list of "The best horror films you've never even heard of."

Horrors of the Black Museum

[henry8-3 · 4/10 · 7 November 2019]

Gough plays an arrogant journalist / author obsessed with a serial killer employing spectacular weapons to despatch his victims.

Wildly over played by Gough in best scenery chewing form and with a rather daft ending, this though makes for fun grande guignol late night telly.

THE MOVIE THAT SHOULD HAVE STARRED VINCENT PRICE?

[Cheryl_Duran · 17 January 2002]

I caught an interesting horror flick on TV the other night called "Horrors of the Black Museum" (1959) and all I could ask was WHERE IS VINCENT PRICE? Why? Starting with first things first, let's examine the opening of the movie. A gimmick called "Hypnovista" is employed. Hynovista? Yes, Hypnovista. Before the film starts, a "psychologist" with a specialty of Hypnotism appears. He leads the audience through numerous hypnotic suggestions. Starting out by demonstrating just how contagious a yawn can be, he goes on to "Hypnotize" the audience with the power of suggestion that they are feeling cold ( blue tinted screen / sound of an icy storm) and feeling hot (orange tinted screen / sound of flames). Guess what? It works! OK, well kinda. Ok It doesn't! Presto chango, he announces you are hypnotized and will experience the movie as though you are actually there! Gee, why does this remind me of a William Castle film gimmick? (William Castle is the same guy who devised those amazing movie house gimmicks for Vincent Price films "House on Haunted Hill" and "The Tingler").

Ok kiddies, hang on, that's not all! Now let's consider "The Phibes Factor" NOTE: The Abominable Doc doesn't make the movie scene till 1971. The plot of this movie has a demented crime writer hypnotizing an assistant and sending him out to kill people with torturous and bizarre methods, just to prove he can. Death by binoculars with spikes NOTE: This particular device was inspired by an actual device that exists in a Scotland Yard Museum, Ice tongs through the neck, guillotine, knife in the heart whilst in the tunnel of love, electrocution ray and last but not least, death via vat of acid. What kind of a hill did you say that house was on?

Finally, let us examine the mad crime writer's hobby. Can you guess what it might be? He just happens to be the curator of a very private museum of wax figures, the figures of famous murderers!

Not to discount Michael Gough as mad writer, Edmond Bancroft. Gough, who has appeared in numerous horror films, such as: "Horror of Dracula (1958), The Phantom of the Opera (1962), Black Zoo (1963), Berserk (1967), Horror Hospital (1972) and in a series of mad-scientist roles, Konga (1961), The Skull (1965), and They Came From Beyond Space (1967) and many more, does a marvelous job in the role. But there is no denying it would have been wonderful fun to see Vincent Price as the mad Edmond Bancroft. Upon viewing this film, it becomes obvious why he was so wonderful in roles with similar themes like "House of Wax", "The Abominable Dr. Phibes" and "House on Haunted Hill". Woulda, coulda, shoulda considered, "Horrors of the Black Museum" is a wonderful film. It should NOT be missed by any fan of this type film.

So-so B horror flick.

[Hey_Sweden · 6/10 · 10 June 2013]

It's a shame, really: with a delightfully lurid and catchy title such as "Horrors of the Black Museum" and advertising that hyped a special "Hypno-Vista" process, this could and should have been more fun. It's reasonably amusing, but its good moments are spread pretty far apart amidst a lot of talk and a slow pace.

Fiendish murders are plaguing the city of London, and prominent crime expert / journalist Edmond Bancroft (Michael Gough) just loves to write about it. He definitely has a flair for the sensational. This sets him at odds with the weary Scotland Yard detectives investigating the case, including Superintendent Graham (Geoffrey Keen, whom one may recognize from his appearances in several James Bond franchise entries) and Inspector Lodge (John Warwick).

The movie can boast a couple of nifty gadgets: binoculars that shoot needles into unwary eyes, a pair of ice tongs, and a miniature guillotine. The title derives from the collection kept by the Yard of hideous murder implements; Bancroft also maintains an impressive collection of his own.

Helping to make this little horror film palatable are gorgeous CinemaScope photography and an excellent cast also including June Cunningham as Bancrofts' fed-up girlfriend, Graham Curnow as his loyal assistant Rick, the lovely Shirley Anne Field as Ricks' gal pal Angela, Beatrice Varley as shop keeper Aggie, and Austin Trevor as Commissioner Wayne. But Gough, not surprisingly, thoroughly dominates the proceedings with a deliciously hammy performance. One could never accuse Gough of not giving a role 100% percent, and he doesn't disappoint here.

Overall, this is a mild diversion and no more.

Six out of 10.

"This last group of murders gives a girl the shivers"

[hwg1957-102-265704 · 6/10 · 23 January 2019]

A crime writer Edmond Bancroft is responsible for a series of gruesome murders of young women helped by his suggestible assistant Rick, the knowledge of which murders enhances his literary career and makes him taunt Scotland Yard with their supposed incompetence. The writer also has a Black Museum of his own to rival the Yard's. Not a bad film mixing police procedural, Jekyll and Hyde and a mad scientist (though why he has all that electric equipment is unclear) but not that thrilling. The ending is weak.

It does however have the great Michael Gough who steals the film effortlessly as Bancroft. It also has stalwart supporting player Beatrice Varley in a good role as the sly antique shop owner Aggie. The direction by Arthur Crabtree is staid. Visually it looks good in Cinemascope and Eastmancolour.

Bancroft is the main villain but somehow you can't help being sorry for him. That's due to Michael Gough's acting ability. He's bad but sad.

Horrors of the Black Museum

[Scarecrow-88 · 5/10 · 5 January 2007]

The plot is deceptively simple. Michael Gough portrays murder novelist Edmond Bancroft who is obsessed with death and the act of killing in various methods especially. His devious acts of violence towards women is perhaps a hidden hatred for them. Perhaps researching murderers from the past, and his obsession with them, forged the way into his demented reasons to kill women. As explained to his hypnotized assistant Rick(Graham Curnow), women were the main culprits in how murderers were caught and executed. Edmond lives and breathes the novels of killing he writes and he will do whatever it takes to make those works continue. So he uses poor Rick as a means to help perpetuate his literary bloodlust by often forcing him to kill or by helping him get rid of bodies he had murdered. Certain characters threaten Edmond's work so he makes plans to do away with them when their not expecting such as an antique store saleswoman for whom he buys merchandise from(she plans to blackmail him after spotting her name on a pair of "spike-lensed" binoculars that stabbed a woman's eyeballs to the very nerves killing her)or a doctor who, through both mental and physical examination, sees what Edmond is turning into(..or has already become). But, the most major threat is Rick's secret lady-love, Angela(Shirley Anne Field).

Horrors of the Black Museum has loads of potential, but seems to be devastingly marred by an abrupt ending. I myself felt like this film could've really been something great if we could've understood more about Rick's plight. Why does his face twist into this hideous sight ravaged by an ugly green tint. Sure towards the end we see him receive an injection by his master Edmond Bancroft, but really delving deeper seems to be this film's major flaw. It wants to make the evil Bancroft pay for his crimes rather quickly instead of furthering his abilities to lead detectives on a wild goose chase. He makes too many mistakes at the end which question his credibility to have gotten away with his twisted scheme for so long.

I would suggest seeing it for several interesting death weaponry like the mini-guillotine or the aforementioned spiked-lensed binoculars, but Gough's delicious villainy is why I enjoyed it to a point. But, I also felt it needed a stronger ending than the blown-up finale which has Rick faced with the position of killing Angela when Edmond demands it. His descent through the "fun-fair" running around like a maniac is laughable(still his face and how he turns is a mystery to me), and the reasons behind Edmond even going to the "fun-fair" is even more a mystery. And, why would Edmond abruptly try to have Angela killed so soon..and SO PUBLIC! Why not kill Angela like all the others..in some sort of secluded execution. But, the film is colorful and has some fascinating moments..just not enough for a great movie.

Michael Gough in a shocking starring debut

[kevinolzak · 7/10 · 4 April 2019]

1959's "Horrors of the Black Museum" marked producer Herman Cohen's shift from Hollywood to England, the very first AIP release in color and CinemaScope (double billed with Cohen's comedic "The Headless Ghost"), and its massive success was a major factor in the company's move away from black and white sci-fi to color Poe films. The William Castle-type gimmick of HypnoVista played a part at the box office but merely added 13 interminable minutes to the running time, usually trimmed for television (1960's "The Hypnotic Eye" called its similar process HypnoVision). It was the first of the infamous 'Sadean Trilogy' (followed by Michael Powell's "Peeping Tom" and Anton Diffring's "Circus of Horrors"), forward looking pictures that centered around the killers, all emphasizing sadism, depravity, and sexually charged violence against women (Anglo Amalgamated the production company doing the honors). It's no stretch to admit that this was the weakest of the three, Cohen's trademark misogyny firmly in place (with one exception, all the victims are female), and yet another teenage boy under the hypnotic control of a psychotic older male (the producer went back to the well one time too many with 1961's "Konga"). While "Peeping Tom" has long been acknowledged as an enduring classic, its shy protagonist unable to resist a compulsion to kill, and "Circus of Horrors" is acclaimed for the backdrop of joviality masking its sordid tale of an obsessive plastic surgeon using the big top as the perfect front for his facial experiments, "Black Museum" can offer little apart from the old hat Cohen clichés established in "I Was a Teenage Werewolf," namely dull footage showing the hapless authorities always a step behind the culprit, this mastermind supplying Michael Gough with his first starring role, a more economical choice than either Vincent Price or Orson Welles. The gruesome opening is the best remembered moment, and no wonder; the tone is set with a pair of binoculars gifted to a young girl who tries them out immediately, only to fall victim to the hidden spikes that bore through her eyes into her brain. Nothing else tops that horrifying sequence but it doesn't have to, audiences for the first time asked to identify with the murderer as never before, and two decades before it truly came into its own with the spawn of "Friday the 13th." At the start of the decade Gothic efforts like "The Strange Door" were nostalgic, the focus on villain Charles Laughton balanced by the young ingenue in danger and a heroic figure to rescue her. There is virtually no opposition to Gough's Edmond Bancroft, veteran author of popular novels and articles on crime, his obsessive egomania such that his ultimate goal is to taunt authorities and look like a genius by orchestrating a series of murders perpetrated by his obedient teenage underling (Graham Curnow), under the effects of a Jekyll/Hyde serum that brings out the boy's horrific qualities. Bancroft purchases every antique weapon to be used, storing them in his secret Black Museum, one that parallels Scotland Yard's own museum, which is never open to the public. Gough's lip smacking relish is a far cry from his low key performance as Arthur Holmwood opposite Peter Cushing's Van Helsing in "Horror of Dracula" (all of his Cohen roles delivered this way), and quite unlike the tortured artist who haunts Christopher Lee's vengeful critic in "Dr. Terror's House of Horrors." Perhaps the actor had something of an imp inside that saw these horror outings as a way to just let 'er rip, implausible but never less than entertaining, just the right arrogant touch this one needed. Fortunately, the presence of future James Bond regular Geoffrey Keen lends some weight to the on screen investigation, a rarity for a Cohen film (the dependable Jack Watson is sadly lost at sea in the upcoming "Konga"). At the very beginning of a career that continued well into the 2000s, Shirley Anne Field can do little to make her character either likable or interesting, such is the way Herman Cohen depicted his female leads; she made a greater impact in "Peeping Tom" and particularly Hammer's "These Are the Damned" (this was the screen swan song for veteran director Arthur Crabtree, selected for his previous work on Marshall Thompson's "Fiend Without a Face"). Today we can hardly speculate on the impact it had on viewers accustomed to happy endings and evil vanquished, for as the 60s dawned Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" would become the benchmark for the future, as frightening and inevitable as death itself.

A Silly Unbelievable Plot Topped Only by Bad Acting

[Hitchcoc · 5/10 · 16 December 2016]

I saw this as a child. The opening scene where a young innocent woman uses a pair of gift binoculars. As she looks through the eyepieces, spikes come shooting out, through her eyes and into her brain, killing her. Apparently, there have been a series of murders of women that the police have been unable to solve. A journalist who writes about gruesome murders harasses the police over their perceived incompetence. He is anathema to the authorities, but they don't have anything they can prove. He has a partner, a young man who follows his every wish, and they have their own black museum, which is a place where weapons used in murders and serious crimes are displayed. As things progressed, there are more and more hideous events. The journalist is always there when things happen. The ending is when it all falls apart. While the movie is good to look at, there isn't much to recommend this.

Michael Gough and lots of cleavage make for a great combination

[scsu1975 · 6/10 · 21 November 2022]

Michael Gough plays a mystery writer who arranges to bump off several dames to increase his popularity (and sales of his latest book about murder). One blonde (with ample cleavage) gets binoculared to death, while her red-headed roommate (with ampler cleavage) looks on in horror. Then Gough's "ho" tells him where to get off, and she is done in by Gough's assistant, using a hand-held guillotine - you know, the kind you can buy on QVC. By using a pair of ice tongs, Gough offs an old crone who runs an antique store. Well, the list goes on, but you get the idea.

Gough, as usual, is hammy over the top, but not nearly as crazy as he is in "Konga." He is delicious to watch as he needles Scotland Yard, and vents his spleen at his assistant (Graham Curnow). June Cunningham, as Gough's chick, has the smallest waist coupled with the largest hips I've seen in some time. She also treats the audience to about a 50-second dance in a bar. By the time she is done, every guy watching will figure out his sexual orientation.

Poor

[adriangr · 3/10 · 11 June 2014]

I enjoy a lurid British thriller when I can find one, but sadly "Horrors of the Black Museum" is not an effective example of one. I was hoping for something similar to "Circus of Horrors" which is from a very similar period, but that film is altogether more grisly and entertaining than this one.

The plot sees a string or murders in London, all employing elaborate killing techniques. A famous author of true-life crime (Michael Gough) seems particularly interested in the murders, and although he regularly helps the police...is he actually the killer? The best murder in the story (from a pair of deadly binoculars) appears in the first 5 minutes, which actually does the film a disservice as it's not equalled or bettered by anything else that happens. The rest of the plot does see more murders, but in typical British fashion, they all take place off screen, or just tastefully masked out of shot, which makes things pretty dull for a supposed "horror movie". Now, things can still be rescued by a gripping plot, but there's not much of that either.

The real nail in the coffin is the appalling acting. Michael Gough is OK, but Graham Curnow is terrible as his assistant, and Shirley Ann Field is wooden beyond belief. There's an abundance of very grating Cockney dialogue, along the lines of "Oh, ta very much, dearie" from the women and "Cor Blimey!" from the men, and things wind up with a really rubbish climax set in a funfair. If the movie had exploited it's "tools of death" angle more salaciously, then "Horrors of the Black Museum" would have earned a nice place in horror history, but the reluctance to show anything even mildly nasty is a real mistake. Only the opening binoculars death has any shock value, and as mentioned before, it's followed buy a full 90 minutes of running time when nothing else good happens. I'm disappointed when I have to be negative but this film really isn't very good.

Probably saved by its gimmick

[KuRt-33 · 9/10 · 19 November 1999]

It was only after looking at the director of "Fiend without a face" that I realised that 'Fiend' and "Horrors of the Black Museum" were directed by the same person. Both movies are very good British horror movies (though it's a pity that it's so difficult to find 'Fiend' and it doesn't look like the BBC will show it again - maybe this prayer will work). Because it's so hard to find 'Fiend", I chose to review 'Horrors' because you should get the chance to watch a Crabtree movie. Apart from the plot of "Horrors of the Black Museum" (which I won't go into here - if you're interested, you can always read the plot summary) the movie has a special feature (Hypnovista) which probably is one of the reasons why it's still around now. Hypnovista was a gimmick like the ones William Castle liked to use (think of the color scene and the moving theatre seats in 'The Tingler' or the Fright Break which paused 'Homicidal'), but certainly not the only reason to see the movie (unless, of course you are totally into hypnotised people). I agree that some of the stunts could have been better (I never believed the skeleton), but the movie was made in 1959. Indeed, they don't make them like they used to do... "Horrors of the Black Museum" is one of the movies which make you add "...unfortunately". (the same goes for 'Fiend')

Brilliantly Bizarre!

[Greensleeves · 7/10 · 3 December 2008]

You can only visit the real 'Black Museum' (now based at New Scotland Yard) by invitation so you may have to make do with visiting this version of the 'Black Museum' put together by crime writer Edmond Bancroft (played by Michael Gough) which is a third rate approximation of the real thing. You would certainly get more of a thrill by visiting 'The Chamber Of Horrors' at Madame Tussauds which at least has more authentic looking waxworks than the pathetic efforts displayed here. The museum also seems to double as a laboratory with banks of electronic machines (all flashing lights, dials and levers) whose purpose is never really made clear but comes in handy for electrocuting an interfering busybody. So you may think viewing this film would be a complete waste of your time but it's not quite like that. For starters this film contains the most gruesome and bizarre murders shown on the screen up to that time and even now they have quite an impact. People still talk about the binoculars with the deadly spikes which kill by piercing the eyes and brain - although I'm not sure how the victim would have removed them once they were embedded into her eye sockets. Then there is murder by an improvised guillotine - although it does seem strange that the victim didn't notice a maniac with a huge blade standing at the head of her bed before she got into it. An old lady is murdered by ice tongs (!) and a man who is lowered into a vat of acid is retrieved as a (fully articulated!) skeleton. The special effects are distinctly lacking and compared to the excesses of today you actually see very little but the murders still achieve an immense shock value. The acting is variable but the performances bring lots of incidental pleasures. Michael Gough is madly intense as the owner of the museum, June Cunningham as the 'sexy' blonde performs a 'torrid' dance at the local pub, for the benefit of no-one in particular, before losing her head and Beatrice Varley entertains us nicely as the wizened and canny antique shop owner. Blink and you'll miss lovely old timer Hilda Barry with just a few lines as 'the woman in the hall'. The climax takes place at a funfair (probably the long gone Battersea Park) with a double death at the Big Wheel, witnessed by all and sundry, but the police establish what's what and who's who in a couple of minutes, the ride reopens immediately and the crowds disperse to carry on enjoying themselves as though nothing has happened. It's British, it's bizarre and there's been nothing quite like it before or since.

"Oh sir can I borrow your face? I want to scare my Boss!

[thejcowboy22 · 4/10 · 5 November 2018]

Many years ago one Saturday night I had a group of friends over my house. I was about 14 years old and hosted a night of cards and pizza for my neighborhood friends. We assembled in my panel clad finished basement. The television was on as Chiller Theater was about to start. At that moment the upstairs doorbell rang. It was the pizza I ordered. I Scrambled up the stairs for the money to pay the delivery guy. As I gave the cash to the delivery man I heard screams, commotion coming from the basement. I came down the stairs. My friends remarked, "You missed it. That woman, the blood, the binoculars you missed it!" Dumbfounded I replied, "The movie just started. That was fast!" Horrors Of The Black Museum is one of those movies that starts off with a bang or should I say poke. I have already spoiled some of the plot but I will tell that this movie is broken down into subplots of violence. A vindictive Curator/ crime reporter Edmund Bankcroft (Michael Gough) who undermines the police with his gruesome articles in the local tabloids angers Scotland Yard. The authorities are baffled as a serial killer is loose around town with a different approach of murder using instruments of death the likes we have never seen. The Scotland Yard detectives question a confused and upset French woman Peggy (Malou Pantera) who's room mate Gail was the victim of a gruesome murder involving spring loaded binoculars. Bankcroft enters the room at that moment to an unwelcome detectives as he's accused of printing unfavorable articles about the police department. The phone rings and its the Police Commissioner (Austin Trevor) as a condescending Bankcroft handles the binoculars and boasts that the police do not have the authority or control whatever I print in the paper. The Commissioner tells his department that there are no leads to the murders. The middle aged Bankcroft has one obstacle in his life beside a limp with the use of a walking cane. His Doctor sees an abnormality with his heart. You see Bankcroft is the Proprietor of his pride and joy the "Black Museum" who showcases gruesome murders and the devises/weapons used in those killings which he doesn't show to the public. This venue of the macabre is guarded by his young male assistant Rick (Graham Curnow). Rick is easily influenced and controlled by Bankcroft with the use of hypnosis and injections that transform Rick into a Hideous monster sort of a Jekyll and Hyde thing going on here. Despite Rick's loyalty or obedience to Bankcroft, Rick is torn between his sweet girl friend Angela played by Shirley Ann Fields. Bankcroft does interfere with Rick's relationship. Speaking of relationships, Bankcroft has a female companion Joan (June Cunningham) who is a dancer who at this point is sick and tired of not being appreciated. Her interest in Bankcroft is strictly for his money. They have a falling out due to the fact that he never takes her anywhere. Joan goes as far as to questions his manhood which infuriates him. Basically this movie is filled with violent forms of revenge and is not suitable for frustrated or politically angered persons who might want to emulate this killings. This movie was filmed in color which in some ways gives a contemporary feel. The movie begins with a narrator giving an introduction for the use of Hypnovision which the producers of the film try to control your thoughts while viewing this cinematic. Another words subliminal visual effects to control your curiosity. But it didn't stop me from changing the channel to check College football scores during the commercials. I personally own the DVD and watched this film uninterrupted and still didn't feel the effects of this Hypnovision in the least. As for our foil/lead Michael Gough who looks very distinguished and always bolsters a scene with his acting prowess. Gough always carries the scene. Other players worth mentioning is the suspicious Junk keeper Aggie who is played by Beatrice Varley and the inquiring Dr. Ballan played by Gerald Anderson. As I stated earlier. I missed the opening scene with the deadly binoculars. in those days there were no DVR recording devices so if you missed a show you had to wait until the station shows the film again with the use of a TV guide magazine. In my case it wasn't to long, only SIX MONTHS! It was worth the wait OUCH!!