The Shuttered Room Movie Review 219

The Shuttered Room is a 1967 thriller/horror movie directed by David Greene and starring Oliver Reed, Gig Young and Carol Lynley. It is based on a short story written by H.P. Lovecraft and August Derleth.

The movie begins in a house where a family are living. There is something horrible up in the attic and when it wanders downstairs, the parents have to shove it back into its lair in the attic.What is it????Cut to years later and Susannah Kelton(Lynley) and her husband Mike(Young) are going to Dunwich Island because Susannah has been left a mill and house there. She is going to check it out and see her old home. When she was young, her parents sent to her to New York and this is the first time she has been back. The locals are a bit weird and there is a local thug gang led by Ethan(Reed). They all leer at Susannah and it is obvious that Ethan has taken a shine to her. They arrive at the house and it is in disrepair and dusty. They are warned about the house by the locals but they take no heed of that. Ethan is upset when he hears that they are moving into the mill. He runs to Aunt Agatha(Flora Robson) and tells her that the mill was supposed to be his.

There is something or someone watching them from the attic. Susannah is a little nervous in the house as she remembers her childhood. Ethan appears and tells them to visit Aunt Agatha. She remembers Susannah and she tells her about her parents. She used to look after Susannah whens he was a child. She tells them to get away from the mill as soon as they can. She tells her that the family is cursed. Mike and Susannah are amused by this. They go back to the mill. Mike goes to the local store to get supplies and Susannah wanders out for a walk. Unfortunately, she runs into Ethan and the gang. They run after her and you just know they are out for trouble! Mike arrives and saves her from them. He hits Ethan. A local girl is attacked and killed by the thing in the attic. Aunt Agatha finds the body and she takes the monster back up to its lair in the attic. She chains it up. She drops her glove on the way out. Mike finds it and he goes to see her. She tells him that she invented the curse to keep people away from the mill.

Mike is on his way back when he falls into a trap laid by the gang and they attack him. Ethan is at the mill and he is chasing Susannah. He tries to come on to her and she won't let him. He starts to get nasty and she hides from him. He finds her and he tries to kiss her. She runs away into the attic. He gets caught by the monster and he falls out of a window to his death. Susannah realises that the monster is her sister. Mike escapes from the gang and comes back and sees the monster too. He gets Susannah away from the house. The monster sets fire to the mill and Mike goes back to save her. Aunt Agatha tells him that she will but she locks the attic door and she lets the mill burn her and the monster. Mike and Susannah watch it burn. This was an entertaining movie and I liked it a lot. Is is worth watching for Oliver Reed's performance as the smarmy Ethan. He sports a strange American accent in it too! I am giving this one a 6/10.