Persecution (film)

Last updated

Persecution
Persecution 1974 film.jpg
Directed by Don Chaffey
Screenplay by
Produced by Kevin Francis
Starring
CinematographyKenneth Talbot
Edited byMike Campbell
Music by Paul Ferris
Production
company
Distributed by
  • Doverton Films (UK)
  • Fanfare Films (US)
Release dates
  • 7 November 1974 (1974-11-07)(UK)
  • October 1975 (1975-10)(US)
Running time
95 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Persecution (also released as Sheba, The Terror of Sheba and The Graveyard) is a 1974 British psychological horror film directed by Don Chaffey, produced by Kevin Francis and starring Lana Turner, Ralph Bates, Olga Georges-Picot, Trevor Howard and Suzan Farmer. The film was released in the United States as Sheba and The Terror of Sheba and subsequently re-titled The Graveyard for VHS release in the 1980s.

Contents

The film's promotional taglines are:

Plot summary

Carrie Masters (Lana Turner) is a crippled, wealthy, bitter woman who takes pleasure in tormenting her young son David (Mark Weavers). She blames him for her crippled leg and, in bizarre and horrifying ways, exacts her revenge by dominating him.

Years later, a 24-year-old David (Ralph Bates) returns home with his wife Janie (Suzan Farmer) and their newborn child, but he is still subject to his mother's evil influence. When she is involved in two terrifying deaths, David's mind snaps; although he is already mentally twisted by Carrie's treatment, David becomes completely insane and swears vengeance on his mother for his years of hate and resentment.

Cast

Production

Persecution was shot in the United Kingdom from late October to November 1973 at Pinewood Studios in London and exterior scenes of the Masters House were shot on location at Denham Place in Buckinghamshire. [1]

Reception

Persecution was a commercial and critical failure and widely panned by critics. In its review of the film, Variety wrote: "The old-fashioned meller is riddled with ho-hum and sometimes laughably trite scripting. Also, very tame in the shock horror department. Under the circumstances, Turner's performance has reasonable poise. There isn't much animation to Ralph Bates as the grown-up edition of the tormented son".

Richard Schleib in The Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Movie Review wrote: "Turner hams it up and she and Ralph Bates have fun playing games with one another. Don Chaffey’s pace is slow moving, despite occasionally inventive photography and some offbeat editing. The story is confusing – by the end, one is never sure who David’s real father was. The catty premise is not terribly interesting and the script trades in some unconvincingly histrionic psychology. The one show stealer is the sultry seductive Olga Georges-Picot." [2]

Lana Turner herself dismissed the film as a "bomb" and called it one of her worst performances during an interview in 1975.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trevor Howard</span> English actor (1913–1988)

Trevor Wallace Howard-Smith was an English stage and screen actor. After varied work in the theatre, he achieved leading man star status in the film Brief Encounter (1945), followed by The Third Man (1949), portraying what BFI Screenonline called “a new kind of male lead in British films: steady, middle-class, reassuring…. but also capable of suggesting neurosis under the tweedy demeanour.”

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lana Turner</span> American actress (1921–1995)

Julia Jean "Lana" Turner was an American actress. Over a career spanning nearly five decades, she achieved fame as both a pin-up model and a film actress, as well as for her highly publicized personal life. In the mid-1940s, she was one of the highest-paid American actresses and one of MGM's biggest stars, with her films earning approximately one billion dollars in 2024 currency for the studio during her 18-year contract with them. Turner is frequently cited as a popular culture icon due to her glamourous persona and a screen legend of the Golden Age of Hollywood. She was nominated for numerous awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dennis Weaver</span> American actor (1924–2006)

William Dennis Weaver was an American actor and president of the Screen Actors Guild, best known for his work in television and films from the early 1950s until just before his death in 2006. Weaver's two most famous roles were as Marshal Matt Dillon's trusty deputy Chester Goode/Proudfoot on the western Gunsmoke and as Deputy Marshal Sam McCloud on the police drama McCloud. He starred in the 1971 television film Duel, the first film of director Steven Spielberg. He is also remembered for his role as the twitchy motel attendant in Orson Welles's film Touch of Evil (1958).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lana Wood</span> American actress (born 1946)

Lana Wood is an American actress and producer. She made her film debut in The Searchers as a child actress and later achieved notability for playing Sandy Webber on the TV series Peyton Place and Plenty O'Toole in the James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever. Her older sister was Natalie Wood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vic Morrow</span> American actor (1929–1982)

Victor Morrow was an American actor. He came to prominence as one of the leads of the ABC drama series Combat! (1962–1967), which earned him an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actor in a Series. Active on screen for over three decades, his film roles include Blackboard Jungle (1955), King Creole (1958), God's Little Acre (1958), Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry (1974), and The Bad News Bears (1976). Morrow continued acting up to his death during filming of Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983) when he and two child actors were killed in a helicopter crash on set.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Suzan Farmer</span> British actress (1942–2017)

Suzan Maxine Farmer was an English film and television actress. She was regularly cast in movies produced by Hammer Films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Carlson (actor)</span> American actor, director, and screenwriter (1912–77)

Richard Dutoit Carlson was an American actor, television and film director, and screenwriter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">W. Earl Brown</span> American actor, screenwriter, producer and musician (born 1963)

William Earl Brown is an American actor, screenwriter, producer, musician, and songwriter. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Kenny, the cameraman in the film Scream (1996), Warren in the film There's Something About Mary (1998), Dan Dority on the HBO series Deadwood (2004–2006), and the voice and motion capture of Bill in the video game The Last of Us (2013). He has appeared in films such as Backdraft, The Master, Being John Malkovich, The Sessions, Vanilla Sky, The Lone Ranger, and Bloodworth, as well as series such as Seinfeld, NYPD Blue, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: Miami, The X-Files, Six Feet Under, Preacher, Bates Motel, True Detective, American Horror Story, Chicago Fire, Psych, and The Mandalorian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Faith Domergue</span> American actress

Faith Marie Domergue was an American film and television actress. Discovered at age 16 by media and aircraft mogul Howard Hughes, she was signed to a contract with Hughes's RKO Radio Pictures and cast as the lead in the studio's thriller Vendetta, which had a troubled four-year production before finally being released in 1950.

<i>The Horror of Frankenstein</i> 1970 British film by Jimmy Sangster

The Horror of Frankenstein is a 1970 British horror film by Hammer Film Productions that is both a semi-parody and semi-remake of the 1957 film The Curse of Frankenstein, of Hammer's Frankenstein series. It was produced and directed by Jimmy Sangster, starring Ralph Bates, Kate O'Mara, Veronica Carlson and David Prowse as the monster. It was the only film in the Frankenstein series which did not star Peter Cushing. The original music score was composed by Malcolm Williamson.

<i>Amityville: A New Generation</i> 1993 film by John Murlowski

Amityville: A New Generation is a 1993 American direct-to-video supernatural horror film directed by John Murlowski. It is the seventh film based on The Amityville Horror, and stars Ross Partridge, Julia Nickson-Soul, Lala Sloatman, David Naughton, Richard Roundtree, and Terry O'Quinn.

<i>Carrie</i> (2002 film) 2002 supernatural horror television film by David Carson

Carrie is a 2002 supernatural horror television film, based on the 1974 novel of the same name by Stephen King. It is the second film adaptation and a re-imagining of the novel, and the third film in the Carrie franchise. The film was written by Bryan Fuller, directed by David Carson, and stars Angela Bettis in the leading role. In the story, Carrie White, a shy girl who is harassed by her schoolmates, disappears and a series of flashbacks reveal what has happened to her.

<i>The Key</i> (1958 film) 1958 British war film directed by Carol Reed

The Key is a 1958 British-American war film set in 1941 during the Battle of the Atlantic. It was based on the 1951 novel Stella by Jan de Hartog and was directed by Carol Reed. William Holden, Sophia Loren and Trevor Howard starred in the production.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tuppence Middleton</span> British actress (born 1987)

Tuppence Amelia Middleton is a British actress known for her performances in film, television and theatre. In 2010, she was nominated for the London Evening Standard Film Awards for Most Promising Newcomer.

<i>The Spaniards Curse</i> 1958 British film by Ralph Kemplen

The Spaniard's Curse is a 1958 British thriller film directed by Ralph Kemplen and starring Tony Wright, Lee Patterson, Michael Hordern, Susan Beaumont and Henry Oscar. It was based on the 1958 novella The Assize of the Dying by Edith Pargeter.

<i>Craze</i> (film) 1974 British film by Freddie Francis

Craze is a 1974 horror film directed by Freddie Francis and starring Jack Palance, Diana Dors, Julie Ege and Edith Evans. A psychotic antiques dealer sacrifices women to the statue of Chuku, an African idol. It was the last film produced by Herman Cohen.

<i>The Black Torment</i> 1964 British film by Robert Hartford-Davis

The Black Torment is a 1964 British gothic horror film directed by Robert Hartford-Davis and starring John Turner, Heather Sears and Ann Lynn. It was scripted by brothers Donald and Derek Ford.

<i>House at the End of the Street</i> 2012 film by Mark Tonderai

House at the End of the Street is a 2012 American psychological thriller film directed by Mark Tonderai that stars Jennifer Lawrence. The film's plot revolves around a teenage girl, Elissa, who along with her newly divorced mother Sarah, moves to a new neighborhood only to discover that the house at the end of the street was the site of a gruesome double homicide committed by a 17-year-old girl named Carrie Anne who had disappeared without a trace four years prior. Elissa then starts a relationship with Carrie Anne's older brother Ryan, who lives in the same house, but nothing is as it appears to be.

<i>The Music Master</i> (1927 film) 1927 film by Allan Dwan

The Music Master is a 1927 American silent drama film directed by Allan Dwan and written by Philip Klein, adapted from the play The Music Master by David Belasco. The film stars Alec B. Francis, Lois Moran, Neil Hamilton, Norman Trevor, Charles Lane and William T. Tilden. The film was released on January 23, 1927, by Fox Film Corporation.

Dracula is a British horror film series produced by Hammer Film Productions. The films are centered on Count Dracula, bringing with him a plague of vampirism, and the ensuing efforts of the heroic Van Helsing family to stop him. The original series of films consisted of nine installments, which starred iconic horror actors Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing as Count Dracula and Doctor Van Helsing, respectively. The series is part of the larger Hammer horror oeuvre.

References