The Shuttered Room

Another semi-successful attempt to adapt the works of American fantasist H.P. Lovecraft to the screen, this is loosely based on the short story The Shuttered Room (also an alternate release title for the film), a story which is purported to be more the work of "posthumous collaborator" August Derleth. The story involves a couple's return to the creepy old ancestral home, located on an island in New England, in which they soon discover the dark secret hidden behind a heavily-locked door in the attic... a door the fearful townsfolk declare "must never be opened." Oliver Reed delivers one of his patented gruff, over-the-top performances as the local nutcase, and director David Greene creates a suitably moody atmosphere, but much like the Roger Corman-produced The Dunwich Horror, this film fails to act on the spooky potential of its theme.