Corridors of Blood *** (1958, Boris Karloff, Christopher Lee, Betta St John, Finlay Currie, Francis Matthews, Adrienne Corri, Francis de Wolff) – Classic Movie Review 2,898

The nifty 1958 British gothic horror thriller film Corridors of Blood stars great horror icons Boris Karloff and Christopher Lee, along with Betta St John, Finlay Currie and Francis Matthews. 

Director Robert Day’s nifty 1958 British gothic horror thriller film Corridors of Blood pairs great horror icons Boris Karloff and Christopher Lee. They both played Frankenstein’s Monster, the Mummy and Dr Fu Manchu.

Here Karloff stars as Dr Thomas Bolton, an 1840s surgeon who struggles with medical potions and fights for the use of anaesthetic in surgery. But he uses himself as a guinea pig and soon becomes a drug-addicted menace to society.

He gets involved with criminals Resurrection Joe (Lee) and Black Ben (Francis de Wolff) who rob cemeteries for bodies for his anaesthetic experiments. Finlay Currie also stars as old police Superintendent Charles Matheson, while Betta St John plays Susan, Nigel Green plays the inspector on the case, Inspector Donovan, and Howard Lang is the Chief Inspector. 

On the menu, there are body snatchers, cruel beauties, blood-curdling experiments and lots of grisly operating theatre scenes. And there is the usual urbanely creepy performance from Karloff and expert one from Lee, with fine support from a distinguished cast. Also in that cast are Frank Pettingell, Francis Matthews, Adrienne Corri, Marian Spencer, Basil Dignam, Charles Lloyd Pack, Carl Bernard, John Gabriel and Yvonne Warren.

The score is composed by Buxton Orr.

Director Day’s horror movie was shot back to back with Grip of the Strangler.

The censors forced cuts to three scenes: (1) The close-up of the leg amputation. (2) Lee stabbing the night watchman in the back. (3) Karloff throwing acid in Lee’s face.

The cast presented Karloff with a signed broom after shooting wrapped.

MGM turned down the original title The Doctor from Seven Dials as they thought that central area of London wasn’t famous enough. Nowadays, it’s famous, well busy anyway. It’s a tourist area whereas before it was a lowlife area.

After a limited release in December 1958, it finally gained a full UK release on 6 September 1962. The film was marketed in the US with the tagline Tops in Terror! when MGM released it in 1962 as a double feature with the Italian import Werewolf in a Girls’ Dormitory.

Karloff and Lee re-teamed for Curse of the Crimson Altar, Karloff’s last British film, aged 80, in 1968.

The cast are Boris Karloff as Dr Thomas Bolton, Betta St John as Susan, Finlay Currie as Supt. Matheson, Christopher Lee as Resurrection Joe, Francis Matthews as Jonathan Bolton, Francis de Wolff as Black Ben, Adrienne Corri as Rachel, Basil Dignam as Chairman, Frank Pettingell as Mr Blount, Nigel Green as Inspector Donovan, Yvonne Romain as Rosa, Howard Lang as Chief Inspector, Marian Spencer, Charles Lloyd Pack, Carl Bernard, John Gabriel and Yvonne Warren.

American actress, singer, and dancer Betta St. John (born Betty Jean Striegler, November 26, 1929 – June 23, 2023) worked on Broadway and the West End, and in Hollywood and UK films.

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 2,898

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