Also known as five other films. Tigon British films has gotten a bad rep among horror fans, often derided as 'Hammer-lite' but they did managed to get Christopher Lee and Boris Karloff.
Oh, and since this is the summer, yes, the Summer of Love(craft) lives again! Sort of, as this is kind of a version of Dreams in the Witch House, albeit uncredited.
A man in a modern suit (Denys Peek) is witnessing a most unusual ceremony. A nearly nude and turquoise woman (Barbara Steele) is gyrating around a room with a fully nude woman tied down before them and a hooded and nearly naked man watch. A hooded man with a goat emerges with a book and quill, asking if the gentleman is ready to enter their world of darkness. The blue skinned woman had him a knife, which he then plunges into the heart of the bound girl.
We then cut to what turns out to be the man's brother Robert Manning (Mark Eden). Seems they run an antique shop together, although Peter (Peek) handles the gathering of stock himself. Robert hasn't seen his brother is ages, but he did just receive a letter from Peter saying he'll be home soon.
The problem is that letter was postmarked ten days ago and still no sign of Peter. The letter came from the small hamlet of Greymarsh, specifically Craxley Lodge. With no other leads Robert packs his bags and heads to the remote countryside.
There he finds the usual oddly behaving locals who seem to distrust outsiders. He also a full rager going on, with drugs and booze aplenty flowing in equal measure. Robert manages to find the lodge, but Eve Morley (Virginia Wetherall) explains that the locals are simply celebrating their one holiday. The burning of her ancestor, Lavinia Morely (Steele) who happens to look just like that painted gal we saw in the opening.
Eve's father (Lee) is genteel but swears that he has no idea what Robert is talking about. He's welcome to spend the night though. About this time thought there's another guest at the lodge. He's invited though and one of Morely's good friends. Professor John Marsh (Karloff) is a local historian and occult expert.
With all this on his mind, Robert falls asleep. He dreams of blue women however, but wakes when she pulls a knife and stabs him. The wound he wakes up with is too real to be a dream. Things progress from there. Marsh's servants are sinister and seem to have it in for him, the locals all swear there hasn't been a Manning in Greymarsh since 'ol Lavinia was burned at the stake.
As far Lovecraft goes, this one slipped under my radar and it's easy to see why. It barely has anything to do with the story aside from witchcraft and even then it's used differently. Not terrible but that is thanks mostly due to Karloff and Lee.
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