Released in 1959, Horrors of the Black Museum was the final directorial feature by Yorkshireman Arthur Crabtree (Fiend Without a Face, Caravan and Lilli Marlene) and the first in a trilogy of films known as the Sadian trilogy. The other two titles that feature in this sadistic triumvirate are Sidney Hayer’s 1960 classic Circus of Horror and the same year’s Peeping Tom, directed by the legendary Michael Powell

The movie was released with Hypno-Vista, a gimmick which consisted of a 13-minute prologue by hypnotist Emile Franchel which was alleged to hypnotise the audience. Obviously, it was nonsense, but audiences bought into the stunt at the time, helping to make the film a success. It starred Michael Gough (Batman, Batman Returns and Satan’s Slave), Graham Curnow (She Always Gets Their Man, Three Men in A Boat and Behind the Mask), June Cunningham (Three on A Spree, Big Time Operators and The Small World of Sammy Lee ) and Shirley Anne Field (Peeping Tom, The Damned and Alfie ). 

Journalist and struggling thriller writer, Edmond Bancroft (Gough) in order to undertake research for his next project hypnotises his assistant, Rick (Curnow) and has him commit murders with a succession of different weapons akin to those which are housed in Scotland Yard’s Black Museum. Bancroft has a secret basement museum in his house where he stores the tools of his dark trade. 

Horror of the Black Museum was pretty hard-hitting stuff for 1959, the opening scene features a young woman named Gail receiving a gift of a pair of binoculars, however, when she looks through them, she screams and falls down dead. The binoculars have two spikes protruding from where the lenses should be that have penetrated Gail’s eye sockets. This leads to a host of fairly unique and grisly murders that take place throughout the movie including a guillotine and an acid bath. As usual in these movies, Scotland Yard are baffled by the murders, and Bancroft continually makes a nuisance of himself as a newspaper journalist. He is always able to stay one step ahead of the police due to his relationships with the officers involved in the case. 

Gough is perfectly cast as Edmond Bancroft, his larger-than-life performance is the stand-out here. The rest of the cast is a real mixed bag, there are some solid performances and some fairly wooden ones too, but that doesn’t spoil the enjoyment too much. Overall, the film is an enjoyable romp, a little campy at times but one that I originally watched and enjoyed many years ago on late-night TV in a similar slot to where I saw many of the old Hammer titles of the same era. 

The print looks good for a film of its vintage and the colours are vibrant with some visceral bloodletting for its age. This new Blu-ray release from VCI and MVD features the movie with or without the original Hypno-Vista opening, audio commentaries with writer/producer Herman Cohen and film historian, Robert Kelly alongside archival interviews with Herman Cohen, Michael Gough and Sally Anne Field, as well as a photo gallery and the ubiquitous cinematic trailers. A flawed but enjoyable late-50s horror movie that probably deserves a little more love than it usually receives.