Doctor Blood's Coffin

Lore & Background

Doctor Blood's Coffin was the second British film made by Canadian director Sidney J. Furie. Nathan Juran wrote the original story, originally titled Face of Evil, under the pseudonym 'Jerry Juran' and sold it to Furie, who had it rewritten by James Kelly and Peter Martin to better fit England, as the original story took place in a gold-mining town 'out west' in America. The film was shot in 10 days on a budget of £25,000, with Furie's salary as director being £3500. It was filmed in Eastmancolour at an aspect ratio of 1.85:1, with Nicolas Roeg (billed as 'Nick Roeg') as camera operator. This was one of the last movies shot at Walton Studios in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey. Cornish locations include the town of Zennor, used as the fictional village of Porthcarron, and the Carn Galver tin mine near St Just. One source states that scenes set inside the tin mine were shot on a studio sound stage, but Hazel Court said in an interview that those scenes were filmed inside 'the real thing' – a 'very wet' cave in Cornwall.

Reader's Guide

Doctor Blood's Coffin holds a place in horror history as one of the first two zombie films shot in colour, alongside the obscure 1961 American film The Dead One. Its early portrayal of zombies as homicidal rotting cadavers influenced later depictions of the undead. The film was released in the UK by United Artists on February 20, 1961, and in the US on April 26, 1961 on a double bill with The Snake Woman. Although filmed in colour, it was shown in black-and-white in some American theatres. In the UK, the British Board of Film Censors gave the film an X-certificate, restricting exhibition to those over age 16, after cuts to 'one or more versions of [the] work' had been made. British critic John Hamilton noted that 'perhaps surprisingly', UA was happy enough with the finished product to rush it into cinemas at the start of 1961, less than six months after the start of filming. The film has seen numerous home media releases, including VHS, DVD, and a Blu-ray release by Scream Factory on May 15, 2018. Although it had 'only a handful of playdates' in the US, BoxOffice magazine reviewed it in its issue of 22 May 1961, noting that 'the picture is strictly for patrons who like their gore in large doses'.

Did You Know?

• Doctor Blood's Coffin was one of the first two zombie films to be shot in colour, the other being the 1961 American film The Dead One.
• Nicolas Roeg, later a renowned director, served as camera operator under the billing 'Nick Roeg'.
• Although filmed in colour, the film was shown in black-and-white in some American theatres.