The Crimson Cult (also known as Curse of the Crimson Altar, as you may have guessed) is probably most noteworthy for its cast of horror icons. Here you get Christopher Lee, Boris Karloff, and Barbara Steele, all together in the same film. It's probably stunt casting to a certain extent - Barbara Steele is particularly underused here - but it's still a treat to see them all. The movie itself is okay. There is a pretty neat/artsy vibe to all of the witchcraft/cult scenes, and it's fun to see the big names do their respective things, but the overall story isn't all that enthralling.
The Crimson Cult starts with a bang though. You get a pretty wild sacrifice scene right off the bat - a woman tied to an altar getting whipped by another woman in pasties, some mostly naked guys hanging around with S&M gear and antlers/goat masks on, and most notably, Barbara Steele as Lavinia, the cult leader. She's painted blue (?) and is wearing a crazy feathered/horned headpiece. There's a super-reverby sound to all of this, and it's backed with a droning sound that wouldn't be out of place in a 50's sci-fi/alien movie. Lavinia is encouraging a guy named Peter Manning stab the woman on the altar and then sign some sort of book, so he can "enter their world of darkness." It's an intense and colorful opening.
Jump to: the exciting world of antiquing! We meet our hero Robert Manning (Mark Eden) in his antique shop - he's opening a package from his brother Peter containing a candlestick and some crazy witch-hunting devices. There is a letter from Peter, saying he'd be home in a day or two - but the letter was dated ten days ago! Robert is worried about his brother, and could tell from the letterhead on his message that he was at the estate of Mr. Morely (Lee) in Greymarsh - an isolated town several hours away. So Robert travels there to try and track down his brother. Once he gets to the Morley estate, Robert learns his brother was never there, and Morely graciously offers to let him stay for a few days while he searches around the town. Robert also meets Morely's niece and obligatory romantic interest Eve (Virginia Wetherall) and the local expert on witchcraft Professor Marsh (Karloff). He also happens to be in town on the night of the annual (fake) witch-burning festival... Good times!
Of course, we know from the opening scene that some (real) witch-related shenanigans may be afoot. Robert isn't having a lot of luck finding his brother, but he has started to have crazy and vivid dreams about Lavinia the witch. Deep down he knows that it's related to his brother's disappearance - but how?
The actors in it are solid, but you like them more for who *they* are rather than who their characters are. Karloff is fun to watch, although it's a little bittersweet... this is one of his final roles and honestly he's looking pretty frail here. But you're more into what he's doing *as* Boris Karloff, rather than Professor Marsh. Same with Christopher Lee. The Crimson Cult has these icons in the cast, but they aren't given anything that exciting to do.
Outside of the famous performers (who are all fun here) and the dream sequences, The Crimson Cult is just kind of bland. Robert wanders around town and gets into little bits of trouble here and there, but nothing that is all that exciting. Robert isn't a super-appealing character either - he's pretty condescending, and is rather inappropriate with Eve - it escalates from obnoxious lines ("is there room for two in your bed?") to outright forcing himself on her at one point. Maybe it's just a sign of the times, but our "hero" doesn't give us all that much of a reason to cheer for him.
There isn't really any central mystery other than "what's the deal with this Lavinia witch lady?" The stakes aren't that high - it's really just Robert that's in danger, and that's it. And he's kind of a jerk anyways. The cast is relatively small, so there aren't many suspects for who could be the (human) evil-doer.
One of the highlights of the film is the character of Elder, Morely's butler (played by Michael Gough). He's got some mental issues and has trouble communicating with people, but he's probably the biggest source of legitimate tension in the film. He plays a sort of harbinger role - and his stuttering warnings of impending doom to Robert are solid. But again, Robert's kind of a dick, so he rats him out to Morely - not once but twice!
Anyhow, despite it's shortcomings, I thought The Crimson Cult was an okay watch. It would have been in big trouble if it weren't for the big horror icons in the cast, but sometimes that's enough. I'd be a little hesitant about it, but still...
I would recommend this film.
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