UK, 1972
89m
35mm film, Technicolor, 1.85:1
mono, English
A British horror film directed by Jim O’Connolly who was credited as ‘Mario J. Dada’ on Spanish posters.
Plot Summary
A pair of old sea salts discover the bodies of three badly mutilated teens on the fog shrouded Snape Island. The sole survivor is a deranged American woman who’s placed in the care of an experimental psychologist who tries to snap her out of her catatonic stupor. He learns that a hulking madman attacked the girl and her three young friends on Snape Island. Intrigued by the discovery of an ancient Phoenician spear as a murder weapon, a team of archaeologists led by Rose Mason and her quarrelsome ex-lover Adam set off for Snape Island. They are accompanied by Brett, a private investigator hired by the surviving woman’s parents to find out what really happened. As the archaeologists wander about the island’s catacombs, bickering ceaselessly, the body count starts to rise. The perpetrator is revealed as a homicidal lighthouse keeper, Saul Gurney, who most of the locals believed to have died many years ago, and his equally crazed son Michael who has led the party to the island.
Credits
Crew
Directed by: Jim O’Connolly
© Grenadier Films Ltd. MCMLXXII [1972]
A Grenadier film. A Grenadier Film production. Fanfare Film Productions [uncredited]
Executive Producer: Joe Solomon
Produced by: Richard Gordon
Associate Producer: John Pellatt
Screenplay by: Jim O’Connolly
Based on an Original Story by: George Baxt
Director of Photography: Desmond Dickinson
Film Editor: Henry Richardson
Music Composed and Conducted by: Kenneth V. Jones
Sound Recordists: Ken Ritchie, Nolan Roberts
Wardrobe: Jackie Cummins
Make-up: Jimmy Evans
Hairdresser: Gordon Bond
Production Designer: Disley Jones
Made at: Shepperton Studios, Shepperton, Middlesex, England
Cast
Bryant Haliday (Evan Brent)
Jill Haworth (Rose Mason)
Mark Edwards (Adam)
Jack Watson (Hamp Gurney)
Anna Palk (Nora Winthrop)
Derek Fowlds (Dan Winthrop)
George Coulouris (John Gurney)
William Lucas (Inspector Hawk)
John Hamill (Gary)
Candace Glendenning (Penny Read)
Robin Askwith (Des)
Serretta Wilson (Mae)
Marianne Stone (nurse)
Fredric Abbott (Saul Gurney)
Mark McBride (Michael Gurney)
Dennis Price (Laurence Bakewell)
Anthony Valentine (Dr Simpson)
Gary Hamilton (Brom)
Alternative Titles
Beyond the Fog – USA (re-release)
Devils Tower – Der Schreckensturm der Zombies – West Germany
Horror of Snape Island
Horror on Snape Island
Perché il dio fenicio continua ad uccidere? – Italy
Snape-saaren salaisuus – Finland
Tårnet i tåken – Norway
La toree del horror – Spain
La tour du diable – France
Der Turm der lebenden Leichen – West Germany
Links
Extracts included in
Mad Ron’s Prevues from Hell (1987)
References
Periodicals
- CinemaTV Today no.10001 (7 October 1972) p.3 – trade show details
- The Dark Side no.66 p.42 – review
- Filmfacts vol.15 (1972) p.115 – reprinted reviews
- The Hollywood Reporter 5 May 1972 – credits, review
- The Hollywood Reporter 17 September 1971 – review
- Monthly Film Bulletin December 1972 p.260 – credits, synopsis, review
- Sight & Sound August 1993 p.62 – review
- Today’s Cinema no.9934 (24 August 1971) p.5 – note (Films shooting in September)
- Today’s Cinema 14 September 1971 – review
- Variety 26 April 1972 – credits, review
Books
- The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror p.268 – credits, review
- For One Week Only pp.168-169 – review
- The Horror Hits of Richard Gordon by Tom Weaver pp.158-173 – illustrated credits, synopsis, interview with Richard Gordon
- The Psychotronic Video Guide p.332 – review
- Reference Guide to Fantastic Films by Walt Lee p.201 – credits
- Unsung Horrors by Eric McNaughton & Darrell Buxton (eds) pp.378-380 – illustrated review (by Ian Taylor)
- X-cert 2: The British In5dependent Horror Film: 1971-1983 by John Hamilton pp.31-36; 275 – illustrated review; credits
Other Sources
- Darkfest III Official Programme p.5 – illustrated listing
