Catherine Teneriffe (Stephanie Beacham) a mistress of a country household is haunted by a curse from the past, where she keeps on seeing a demented ghost and it's wandering head, but is it hallucinations. Her husband Charles Teneriffe (Ian Ogilvy) and everyone else know about the curse, but the mistress is kept in the dark about it. Anyone who tries to inform her to what's happening is suddenly killed off.<br /><br />What a real mixed bag this film is. It has its fair share of good and bad elements, but the bad stands out more. Its hardly scary stuff or that particularly exciting as a whole, but there are some enjoyable moments thrown into the mix. The look of the film is rather stylish, but still it's a hysterically formulaic piece that overplays itself.<br /><br />The direction lacked strong execution, slowly paced and was rather patchy. There are some rather humorous sequences rather than frightening because of some badly staged scenes. Though, the plot didn't entirely help either. The story had its interesting aspects, but the whole mystery surrounding the curse isn't entirely enticing. The plot was hardly convincing and rather flawed. While the script was mostly bearable.<br /><br />A thrilling opening 15-minutes is never recaptured in the film, well maybe with the exception of the scenes with Cushing's character. The idea and some repetitious scenarios get a bit tedious, as it feels like the story is going nowhere. With strange happenings at night that you come to expect from the usual haunted or cursed house tales. With windows opening, a subtle breeze or gust of wind in the house and figures looking into the window. Some conversations were dragged out in long and lacklustre scenes. Though, that's the problem as the few enjoyable scenes are amongst many dull ones. The suspense seemed to fade away and it was let down by a slow midsection, that truly bogs down the film.<br /><br />A persistent music score that sometimes was effective, but most times quite annoying. At times the score sometimes over-killed certain scenes by keeping such an upbeat mood that it mostly overpowers many of the sequences.<br /><br />The atmosphere is truly impressive and it's incredibly well shot. Great production, costumes and set designs. The grand house has an imposing nature, with its menacing shadows, dim lighting, creaking windows and doors. The scenery on the property is quite exquisite. The make-up effects are fairly good and there are some bloody moments. The creeping severed hand looks quite good and as well the make-up of the horrific ghost.<br /><br />It has a good cast, but most of the performances are rather bleak and stilted. Herbert Lom is solid in a small cameo and Peter Cushing's first-rate performance added class, though he doesn't appear until halfway through the film, but his lone performance couldn't elevate the film from being below average.<br /><br />Just like Catherine Fengriffen, we are kept in the dark about the curse until virtually towards the finale. The end result of the curse is hardly satisfying. It just felt like a rushed anti-climax. The predictable outcome took way long to get into it and overall it was kind of a disappointment and rather overwrought. You just see it coming.<br /><br />It's a pedestrian film that has small pockets of excitement and thrills. Expect to hear a lot of screaming, but only on the screen.