 
  Popularity: 2 (history)
| Director: | Peter Sasdy | 
|---|---|
| Writer: | Brian Hayles, John Blackburn | 
| Staring: | 
| When various trustees of the Van Traylen Orphanage begin dying in close order, it's at first written off as a coincidence. But, when a school bus accident very nearly takes out three more of them along with a group of orphans, Col. Bingham (Christopher Lee) and his pathologist friend, Mark (Peter Cushing), begin looking into the deaths. They come to think the answer lies with one of the girls on the bus, who has vivid memories of things she could not possibly have seen. | |
| Release Date: | Feb 16, 1973 | 
|---|---|
| Director: | Peter Sasdy | 
| Writer: | Brian Hayles, John Blackburn | 
| Genres: | Horror, Crime, Mystery, Thriller | 
| Keywords | suicide, based on novel or book, island, orphanage, pathology, murder, bonfire | 
| Production Companies | Charlemagne Productions | 
| Box Office | Revenue: $0 Budget: $0 | 
| Updates | Updated: Aug 03, 2024 Entered: Apr 27, 2024 | 
| Name | Character | 
|---|---|
| Christopher Lee | Col. Charles Bingham | 
| Peter Cushing | Sir Mark Ashley | 
| Diana Dors | Anna Harb | 
| Georgia Brown | Joan Foster | 
| Keith Barron | Dr. Haynes | 
| Gwyneth Strong | Mary Valley | 
| Fulton Mackay | Cameron | 
| Michael Gambon | Insp. Grant | 
| Duncan Lamont | Dr. Knight | 
| Kathleen Byron | Dr. Rose | 
| John Robinson | Lord Fawnlee | 
| Morris Perry | Dr Yeats | 
| Shelagh Fraser | Mrs Alison | 
| Andrew McCulloch | Malcolm | 
| Paul Humpoletz | Angus | 
| Stanley Lebor | Policeman | 
| Beatrice Kane | Helen Van Traylen | 
| Janet Bruce | Naureen Stokes | 
| Geoffrey Denton | Paul Anderson | 
| Name | Job | 
|---|---|
| Peter Sasdy | Director | 
| Brian Hayles | Screenplay | 
| John Blackburn | Novel | 
| Malcolm Williamson | Original Music Composer | 
| Kenneth Talbot | Director of Photography | 
| Keith Palmer | Editor | 
| Weston Drury Jr. | Casting | 
| Colin Grimes | Art Direction | 
| Les Bowie | Special Effects | 
| Eddie Knight | Makeup Artist | 
| Ariel Levy | Assistant Director | 
| Pat McDermott | Hairstylist | 
| Name | Title | 
|---|---|
| Christopher Lee | Producer | 
| Anthony Nelson Keys | Producer | 
| Organization | Category | Person | 
|---|
Popularity History
| Year | Month | Avg | Max | Min | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 
| 2024 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 3 | 
| 2024 | 6 | 5 | 12 | 2 | 
| 2024 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 2 | 
| 2024 | 8 | 5 | 9 | 2 | 
| 2024 | 9 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 
| 2024 | 10 | 5 | 14 | 2 | 
| 2024 | 11 | 5 | 14 | 1 | 
| 2024 | 12 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 
| 2025 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 
| 2025 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 
| 2025 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 
| 2025 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 
| 2025 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 
| 2025 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 
| 2025 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 
| 2025 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 
| 2025 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 
| 2025 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 
Trending Position
Christopher Lee ("Col. Bingham") is the retired policeman who recruits the help of renowned pathologist "Sir Mark Ashton" (Peter Cushing) to help out when the trustees of a children's charity start to dying in what, he thinks, are mysterious circumstances. It all starts with a bus crash that left ch ... arred remains when there was no fire, and ends up on a remote Scottish island where perhaps even the children at at risk. There's a great deal of over-acting here - especially from Diana Dors as the mother of one of the children "Mary"; and from a young Gwyneth Strong as that very child. Fulton Mackay is really miscast as the chief constable - a man who seems to hold that rank whilst having only about twenty officers and a few dogs; and Georgia Brown's "Miss Foster" investigative journalist role seemed uncertain as to quite what her point in the story was. It is great to see Cushing and Lee together, but neither are on much form here and the whole thing really does lurch, quite absurdly at times, along for 90 minutes. Pretty mediocre television fayre, this.