Late Karloff

THE SORCERERS-1967-Old “medical hypnotist” Prof. Monserrat (Boris Karloff) has a weird machine in a room in the apartment he shares with his wife Estelle (Catherine Lacey). Mike (Ian Oglivy), a bored young man answers Monserrat's advertisement for a subject. After a psychedelic experiment, the elderly couple can control Mike's mind and feel all his sensations. The professor wants to use the machine to help mankind but Estelle wants to keep it secret and makes Mike steal a fur coat. They live vicariously through Mike's actions (swimming, riding a motorcycle). When he takes a drink of whiskey Monserrat mumbles “horrible stuff”. Estelle makes him fight and almost kill his best friend. She gets power crazy and when hubby threatens to “de-process” Mike, Estelle hits him with his own cane and destroys the machine. She makes Mike kill a young girl (Susan George) he meets and then a singer at a club. When Mike is almost forced once again to kill his friend he flees the police by car. The professor regains control in time to make Mike crash in a fiery explosion. Back in their apartment the professor and his wife are burned corpses. 

Director Michael Reeves completed only one more film after THE SORCERERS (WITCHFINDER GENERAL with Vincent Price and Ian Oglivy) before dying of an accidental barbiturates overdose. The story goes that the original screenplay by John Burke was re-written by Reeves and Tom Baker (not the Doctor Who actor) to make Karloff's character more sympathetic (supposedly at Karloff's insistence). Burke was created only with “idea by”. Years later and after his death Burke's original screenplay was found and published. Whatever the case Reeves' final version may not be a masterpiece but it has it's moments.

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