8mm Forum: 'The Curse of the Crimson Altar'

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Posted by Adrian Winchester (Member # 248) on August 04, 2019, 05:51 PM:

This 1968 British horror film is hardly a classic, but it has a great cast and the quite rare Walton 2 x 400' version makes entertaining viewing, that's perhaps preferable to repeated viewings of the entire film!

As there's also a Walton 200' version - and a Ken 200' version (with the USA title 'The Crimson Cult') - I'm curious whether anyone might know whether either of these has footage that isn't in the longer version?

Posted by Carter Bradley (Member # 984) on August 04, 2019, 06:30 PM:

I have all three edits you mentioned, and while I haven't viewed them in some time, they are all quite different. Combining the Ken and Walton 200' digests creates quite a nice edit with an extended dream sequence and ending fire. The 2X400' version features much more background information, such as the party sequence introducing the young Ms. Morley, and attempts on the hero's life.
Hope this helps.

Posted by Adrian Winchester (Member # 248) on August 05, 2019, 12:44 PM:

Carter - many thanks for your reply. I imagine I'd be very lucky to now find a copy of the Ken 200' without serious fade - but many Walton releases still retain good colour. Therefore if at any point you view your edit of the two 200' versions, I'd be grateful if you could mention whether the Walton 200' in particular has any content not in the 2 x 400'.

Posted by Douglas Meltzer (Member # 28) on August 06, 2019, 08:50 AM:

Just my luck that the reverse is true for me. My Walton 2x400' is completely faded and my Ken Films 200 footer has decent color!

Doug

Posted by David Skillern (Member # 607) on August 06, 2019, 02:46 PM:

My Walton print is still in excellent condition and its a great mini feature - i always heard that both 200ft editions had differnt colour shift - but on hearing these posts - it appears you need to be lucky.

Posted by Brian Hendel (Member # 61) on August 06, 2019, 06:40 PM:

Yes, it must have to do with luck -my Walton 2 X 400' digest is gorgeous... while my Ken print is only fair... I have another Walton print that has one good reel and one red reel... so go figure! If the quality matched, it would be great to splice the Ken digest into the Walton release because it's missing an entire dream sequence.

There's also a Walton 200'er that is hit or miss with quality, too.

Also, the trailer is available on two releases - The British version is on the Walton trailer reel with other Tigon pictures: Witchfinder General and Hannie Caulder.
The US trailer is available on the 400' Thunderbird release of Chris Lee trailers.

PS: I know a little too much about this movie because it's a guilty please of mine!
Here's a bit of trivia - instead of shooting in a studio, it was shot in the mansion that belonged to William S. Gilbert of Gilbert and Sullivan fame. Very interesting!

Posted by Adrian Winchester (Member # 248) on August 09, 2019, 02:58 PM:

Many thanks for the replies. It goes to show how unpredictable colour can be on certain releases. My 2 x 400' is in-between the others referred to as it shows some fade but it's by no means bad. I've come across a Walton 200' with perfect colour and I'll keep a look out for the Ken 200', in case I find one as nice as Doug's.

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