“Put those bloody lights on!” Well, it is an old dark house. Join your faithful Grue Crew – Doc Rotten, Bill Mulligan, Chad Hunt, and Jeff Mohr – as they check out a new find, at least to them, Dark Places (1974), a little-known British horror film.

Decades of Horror 1970s Episode 230 – Dark Places (1974)

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Synopsis: After the original owner dies in a mental asylum, a man moves into an abandoned mansion with a sordid history. Meanwhile, a few locals conspire to steal a large amount of money, said to be hidden somewhere on the premises.

Directed by: Don Sharp
Writing Credits: Ed Brennan & Joseph Van Winkle; (adaptation) James Hannah Jr. (uncredited), Don Sharp (uncredited)
Selected Cast:
- Christopher Lee as Dr. Ian Mandeville
- Joan Collins as Sarah Mandeville
- Herbert Lom as Prescott
- Jane Birkin as Alta
- Robert Hardy as Edward Foster / Andrew Marr
- Jean Marsh as Victoria
- Carleton Hobbs as Old Marr
- Roy Evans as Baxter
- Martin Boddey as Sgt. Riley
- John Glyn-Jones as Bank Manager (as John Glyn Jones)
- John Levene as Doctor
- Jennifer Thanisch as Jessica
- Michael McVey as Francis
- Barry Linehan as Asylum Gatekeeper
- Linda Gray as Woman on Hill
- Lysandre De La Haye as Child on Hill (credited as Lysandra De-La-Haye)
- Earl Rhodes as Child on Hill

The 70s Grue Crew take another trip across the pond to take in Dark Places (1974), a British horror thriller none of them had heard of. Their unfamiliarity with the film is even more surprising because it is directed by Don Sharp (Psychomania, 1973) and stars none other than Christopher Lee, Joan Collins, Robert Hardy, Herbert Lom, Jane Birkin, and Jean Marsh. The crew are more than happy to be pleasantly surprised by a relatively unknown 70s movie. Check out what we have to say about Dark Places, especially the extraordinary performance of Robert Hardy.

At the time of this writing, Dark Places (1974) is available to stream from Tubi, Night Flight, PLEX, and Troma NOW.

Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror 1970s is part of the Decades of Horror two-week rotation with The Classic Era and the 1980s. In two weeks, the next episode, chosen by Jeff, will be a makeshift British ghost story anthology. The crew will cover a total of three British short films:

“Whistle and I’ll Come to You,” Omnibus S1.E17 ( May 7, 1968), M.R. James
“Lost Hearts,” A Ghost Story for Christmas (Dec 25, 1973), M.R. James
“The Signalman,” A Ghost Story for Christmas (Dec 22, 1976), Charles Dickens

This should be a fun one!

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