The Black Torment (1964) is a British horror film that really deserved its release on Kino Lorber’s Redemption label. It may be a flawed film, but it represents all of the great trademarks of the British Gothic horror films of the sixties (plenty of atmosphere, stunning visuals, etc). Derek and Donald Ford’s screenplay, though set in the eighteenth century, really plays into Ann Radcliffe’s Gothic style with a gusto aided competently by Robert Hartford-Davis’ direction.
There is a great moment early on in the film where the character of Sir Giles (Joseph Tomelty) is first introduced (Sir Giles has been paralyzed and rendered mute after a stroke and is confined to a wheelchair). As characters expound exposition at a breakneck speed Hartford-Davis cuts to this curious POV shot from Sir Giles’ perspective. It’s a visual cue that immediately feels otherworldly and out of place while also serving as a kind of red herring. Sir Giles doesn’t figure largely in the narrative, but by cutting to this shot so early on we come to expect something from him.
However, The Black Torment’s greatest attribute is its atmosphere. The appearance of Anne’s ghost is shot beautifully through a window, and the chase on horseback that follows her second appearance is breathtaking. There is a hint of fast-motion throughout the chase scene which imbues the whole affair with a sense of the fantastic. Add to that the quick succession of cuts and the use of wide shots where the woods, through which the characters ride, are the main feature and everything, on a visual level, begins to transcend all that will follow and all that has come before.
It’s pretty impressive that The Black Torment’s strongest feature is its atmosphere considering it was produced by a studio even smaller than Hammer Studios; Compton Films. As with many Hammer productions atmosphere is the key element as to whether or not The Black Torment works. The Black Torment may not best Hammer’s greatest films, but it certainly fairs better than most of the bigger studio’s output. A definite must-see for connoisseurs of the Gothic and of British horror as a whole.
