Starring Tod Slaughter, Bruce Seton, Henry Caine, Pearl Cameron, Andrew Laurence
Directed by Victor M. Gover
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)
While Britain faces the forces of Napoleon, an agent for the French concocts a scheme to murder the Wraydon family and seize their lands, by blaming the murders on young Jack Wraydon and the family curse.
Although there's quite a bit of historical background and talky scenes at the start, once Slaughter is able to take center stage with his dastardly scheming and evil laugh, the film takes off, culminating in a climax where the villain uses a pit with moving walls to dispose of his enemies. The "curse" of the title refers to a madness that overtook past Wraydon ancestors, and when young British officer Jack Wraydon (Bruce Seton) starts a duel to defend his lady's honor, and then flees his barracks to escape court-martial, Slaughter's character, known only as "The Chief," takes advantage to commit murders to blame on Jack. Based on a play, the screenplay could have perhaps been written better, as the background subplots which include espionage, double agents, military protocol, and two separate illicit romances, did offer much to keep track of and I only grasped everything that was going on at the end of the picture. Curiously, the story is based on a legend of "Spring-Heeled Jack" which while it refers to Jack's ability to evade the authorities with well-timed leaps, per Wikipedia the actual legend is based on supposed sightings of a demonic-looking creature.
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