The Oblong Box

(1969) ***

In an African village, a terribly stereotypical, African tribe is performing a voodooistic ritual which will somehow harm a pudgy British guy. We don't see exactly what happens to him, but at the end, Edward Markham (Vincent Price) rushes in to see. We then must judge what happened to the man by the horrified expression on Markham's face. Fast-forward some months to the mansion in London where Price and his somehow disfigured brother live. Just to be safe, Markham has chained his brother up in his bedroom, believing his mind to be ill, along with his face. Little does Markham know though, that his brother is scheming to escape and further involvement with a member of the African voodoo tribe who has made his way to the UK.

This qualifies as a respectable work with an involving story that, as long as you don't mind the sometimes maddeningly slow pace that is common among films of this era, keeps you entertained. The best part is easily the red velvet hood that makes the villain much creepier than he really is. In fact, at the end of the film, when he is finally unmasked, his disfigured face is far less scary than he looks while wearing the hood. Vincent Price is of course, marvelous, in a role where he is actually the hero, rather than the scheming villain. A little unbelievable as he is supposed to be a young wealthy man. His fiancee in the film looks about 20, whereas Price was 58 when making this film. Entertaining for what it's supposed to be.