Crucible of Horror is a 1971 horror film directed by Viktors Ritelis, produced by Gabrielle Beaumont, and starring Michael Gough, Yvonne Mitchell, and Sharon Gurney. Its plot follows a mother who, along with her daughter, plots to murder her abusive husband at his hunting cottage.
A co-production between the British Abacus Productions and the American-based Cannon Group, the film was shot in England in 1969 under the title The Velvet House. It was first released theatrically in the United States as Crucible of Horror, opening in New York City on 11 November 1971, and was released the United Kingdom the following year, under the title The Corpse.
Plot
Walter Eastwood is a wealthy and controlling patriarch who demeans and abuses his diminutive artist wife, Edith, and their teenage daughter, Jane. Walter's misogyny is shared by his son Rupert, who repeatedly refuses his mother's request that he pick up art supplies for her and mocks the idea of his younger sister getting a job since her father refuses to give her an allowance. During dinner at the family's large estate one night, Walter's friend, Gregson, arrives, and is greeted by Jane at the door. Jane tells her father that Gregson tried to kiss her. After dinner, Walter discovers Jane has stolen money, and brutally beats her with a cane. The following day, Edith proposes to Jane that they murder Walter.
When Walter plans a hunting trip to his remote cottage, Edith and Jane opt to remain home, while Rupert is unable to accompany him owing to a prior obligation. Edith and Jane arm themselves with a shotgun and trail Walter to the cottage, but their plans to kill him are thwarted when he hears them enter the house. The women pretend to have changed their minds, wanting to spend the weekend with him. Edith soon draws her shotgun, forcing Walter to sit and listen to her plight as she pours him a drink spiked with a sedative. The women liken Walter to the Marquis de Sade, whose writings they have recently read, and Walter responds with disgust that they would read such material. During the confrontation, Walter collapses unconscious.
Using a funnel, Edith forces more liquor down Walter's throat as he lies incapacitated, before she and Jane drag his body upstairs and place it in his bed, in an attempt to make his death appear as an alcohol-narcotic overdose. The women then return home in the middle of the night, and the following day, nervously await for Walter's body to be discovered. At night, Edith has a nightmare in which she sees a ghostly version of herself levitating outside, before descending into a nearby pond. The following morning, Edith phones the cottage and speaks with the family's maid, Mrs. Roberts, who is maintaining her cleaning duties there, and asks to speak to Walter. Mrs. Roberts tells Edith that it does not appear Walter is there. Later, Rupert phones the house, concerned as he has been unable to reach Walter, and demands they go to check on the cottage.
Edith and Jane return to the cottage, and are shocked to find Walter's bed empty. Outside, they discover a wooden crate, which inexplicably contains Walter's dead body. Moments later, they are approached by Reid, an architect friend of Walter. Reid tells them Walter failed to meet him for their planned hunting the day before. While Edith prepares tea, a suspicious Reid investigates the home, finding the bottle of sleeping pills in Walter's room. After Reid departs, the women drive the box containing Walter's corpse to a remote abandoned factory and push it over an embankment into a pond.
The women return home, where they are plagued by nightmares and frightening incidents, including the parlour window being smashed in. When Edith enters her art studio, she is startled by Walter's body, which she sees dangling upside down from a rafter. Edith frantically runs downstairs, where she finds an equally-terrified Jane. When Walter approaches her, Edith collapses. The next morning, Walter enters the kitchen as usual for his morning breakfast, and is met by Jane, Edith, and Rupert—everything appears to be as it was before he was killed. At the table, Walter humiliates Jane by reading a letter she has received from Benjy Smith, a local boy who is infatuated with her. He then tauntingly asks Edith what she has planned for the day. She stares blankly, a tear dripping down her face.