'Curse of the Crimson Altar' (1968) – Vernon Sewell.

For me at least, horror maestro Vernon Sewell's minor macabre masterpiece 'Curse of the Crimson Altar' has always been one of the more eminently re-watchable, rump-warmingly cosy, 60s-era terror tidbits. Oft disparaged, my appreciation is not solely based upon the modestly deviant shocker's unusually celestial cast of creepy celluloid artisans. Featuring vivid turns from Barbara Steele, Michael Gough, and Christopher Lee, plus the manifestly menacing presence of Boris Karloff, who, in spite of obvious frailty, playfully delivers a sublimely sardonic performance. The oppressively doomy, midnight-creepy rural setting adds a splendidly shuddersome pall of freaky Gothic Wyrd to the cobwebby, Luridly Lovecraftian, B-Horror malevolence! 

The flyblown displays of folk horror ghastliness, and deliriously drug-induced, S&M-singed, lividly green-hazed weirdness endows the atmospheric 'Curse of The Crimson Altar' a wickedly warped atmosphere of wayward unpredictability. The unsophisticated text, perhaps, mirrors the worn-out bearings of esoteric scholar Professor John Marsh's (Boris Karloff) ancient wheelchair, since the musty tropes, and pulpy, penny dreadful ambiance are occasionally a trifle ripe. Spooky old houses, like vintage horror flicks, become weathered over time, so one should fully expect a little cinematic wear and tear. Fans of Amicus, Tigon, Hammer Films, and Andy Milligan are sure to relish the eerie shenanigans cavorting so lustily in Vernon Sewell's starkly Satanic, sensationally skewed shocker. 'Curse of the Crimson Altar' remains a worthy, fulsomely fear-stoked addition to the gruesome pantheon of cult British horror, essential to celluloid crypt keepers since it immortalized the final performance of the eternal dark prince of terror! Boris Karloff lives!!!!!!!!!!