The Shuttered Room 1967

A couple inherits a mysterious mill on a remote island and soon discovers dark family secrets. As they contend with hostile locals and unsettling occurrences, they realize they must confront a long-buried evil to escape with their lives.

Should I watch The Shuttered Room?

Well, that depends…

Are you a fan of ’60s thrillers with great actors? Then absolutely! The movie is fun, fast-paced, and full of action. The main relationship is delightfully dated, but that should be fine: you’re a fan of ’60s thrillers afterall!

Are you thinking about The Shuttered Room because you’re a fan of cosmic horror? Did you land here because you like other cosmic horror movies? Then this movie might not be for you. If you’re a fan of the motifs, you won’t find enough. If you’re a fan of August Derleth and are here because you loved the original story (a posthumous collaboration with H.P. Lovecraft), then definitely not. The similarities are few and far between.

Unless, of course, you are a completionist—someone who will watch it just because it’s tangential to cosmic horror. That’s what I am, and while the movie fulfilled no cosmic horror desire in me, remember: it’s still a fast-paced thriller from the ’60s with Oliver Reed, Gig Young, and Carol Lynley.

Buttonface Says:

I liked it. It suffered from what I think a lot of these cosmic and horror pulp adaptations suffered from: a brutal taming. The original story’s weirdness is removed and replaced with the, I’m assuming, alcoholic bravado of Reed and Young.

But we need to remind ourselves of one of the rules of consuming art. We have to not only acknowledge how the art was made, and what it took, but we also need to remember when it was made. Most art suffers—or succeeds—because it’s a product of its time. The Shuttered Room is definitely a product of its time, and as long as you go in knowing that, you’re in for a treat.